Life as a Habit
by Anjelik
Summary: Anthony DiNozzo looks like a very happy person. Who would suspect that he drives his mustang each night to the nearest cliff and contemplates stepping on the gas pedal and letting go? Pre-NCIS.
1. Prologue

**Life As a Habit**

By Anjelik

Disclaimer – Nothing is mine…nor will it ever be…unless Santa will really outdo himself this year :-)

Warning – Thoughts of suicide and some possible ooc…depends on your view of Tony, really.

Dedication – I dedicate this story to secretchild….cause she's an awesome lady and her writing skills kick ass. I am almost embarrassed to publish this after reading her story, but what's done is done and can't be undone :P

Anthony DiNozzo looks like a very happy person.

With a million watt smile on his face, he sails through life as if everything was a grand party and he ate the biggest piece of cake. He wears expensive designer clothes, excels at sports and charms women with ease. The youngest Baltimore detective seems like he has it all.

He drives his mustang each night to the nearest cliff and contemplates stepping on the gas pedal and letting go.

Anthony DiNozzo is an accomplished liar, although he likes to call himself an actor.

But no movie lasts forever.

It's already dark when Tony parks his car a couple of feet away from the cliff's edge. He rolls down the window, letting the cold winter air bite his skin. Closing his eyes, he breathes in deeply, shivering slightly from the cold that seems to freeze his bones. "This is the day," he vows to himself silently," this time I won't chicken out. DiNozzos are no cowards." His hands grip the steering wheel painfully, his foot hovering over the gas pedal and he revels in the control he finally seems to have over some part of his life.

He could end his life right now and it would be his decision alone. Nobody to take the credit , just him. How would everyone react when finding out about his suicide? He would so pay to see their faces, to see them realize that they haven't had him all figured out, like they wanted to think.

His latest girlfriend would probably make the best of it and describe their affair as a tragic tale of love found and love lost, which would lead to her being the centre of attention, just like she likes it. That's what he gets for sleeping with a soap opera actress with a drama queen complex. The chief would probably say some heartbreaking words about young life ending too soon. The story would be sugarcoated with tales of his remarkable achievements and dedication to work, which is all a load of bull. The man just likes to hear the sound of his own voice. Of course, he is going to be a little bit surprised that the always smiling detective outsmarted them all and let them believe in his false persona, but his hurt pride would recover in no time. His partner is probably going to end up in a bar, playing the 'losing my right-hand man and friend' card and drinking till' he can't stand on his own two legs anymore, just like he does everyday, except this time, he may feel better about himself, it was due to grief, after all.

And his father? He's probably going to come with fake tears in his eyes and tv reporters trailing close behind. Anthony DiNozzo Sr. was always one for keeping appearances and using every situation to his advantage. Losing his only son just might be the best thing to happen to him this year. Of course, his death will have to be declared accidental first, suicide is such an ugly word to be associated with his family. It's not like this will be the first time, either. His mother made sure of that.

"I'll be laughing my ass off in hell at your performance, _dad_," Tony whispers to himself, stressing the word dad, as he was never officially allowed to call the older DiNozzo that. It was always father or sir when he was in an extremely bad mood.

He tightens his hold on the steering wheel and looks ahead into the dark night. The stars are visile, shining brightly in the dark.

"Feeling poetic tonight, DiNozzo?" he laughed out loud, he really is going crazy, talking to himself.

Reaching into his pocket he withdraws his cell phone and looks at it for a moment. Making his decision, he quickly dials the one number he spent hours agonizing over, but never actually had the guts to call. He listens as the phone rings before a gruff voice answers, "Anthony DiNozzo."

Tony sucks in a breath and forces his voice to sound steady and strong .Self-assured.

"Hello dad," no reason to obey his rules _now_.

He is greeted with silence lasting a couple of seconds and stretching into eternity in Tony's mind, before his father seems to get his bearings and replies, "Anthony, what do I owe this surprise to?" his voice is cold and hard, sending chills up and down Tony's body, just like it did when he was still a child.

"Just calling to say hi, you never know, something could happen…" Even though he knew this wouldn't change a thing, he couldn't help but wish for his father to show even the slightest hint of concern, anything that would mean he isn't worthless and unimportant in his father's eyes. Anything that would mean his death will mean something…to someone. He doesn't want to be just the subject of a newspaper article the next day, nor just part of the suicide rate statistic. He wants to be the tragically lost son and friend.

"I am a busy man, Anthony, something you in your line of work may find hard to understand, and I don't have time for this nonsense."

"I just want-" he is met with the dial tone and it takes him a couple of seconds to understand his father hung up on him .Just like that. After not speaking in almost 10 years .

Tears well up in Tony's eyes but he refuses to let them go. DiNozzo's do not cry. Not over losing something that was never even there before.

"I just wanted to tell you, how much I hate what you've made me become," he continues the imaginary conversation, "I hate how you screwed with my mind and made me believe I was worthless and only good for mixing your drinks. I hate how you drove mother to take those damn pills." His breathing is ragged as he continues to hold onto his emotions.

"And most of all I hate you for…for making me believe that I am the reason for all of this."

He spends the next couple of minutes just breathing, in and out, in and out, all the while looking at the stars through the tears still clouding his vision. A falling star grabs his attention and he follows her descend with his green eyes until she disappears into the night. Before he even has time to think about it, he is making a wish. With both his hands squeezing the steering wheel and eyes shut tight, he wishes for something…something to give meaning to his life, he wishes to wake up in the morning with a smile on his face instead of tear marks and a scream stuck in his throat, he wishes for less acting and more living, for people who care about him, not just the idea of him. He wishes to be number one in someone's heart and for his wishes to stop being just wishes.

And as he opens his eyes he decides to give it one more day. Yesterday's determination didn't help, maybe today's star will make a difference. If not, there's always tomorrow night. He starts his car and drives home for the night.

The next day he meets Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

The falling star just may have helped.

Anthony DiNozzo looks like a very happy person.

And he just might really be one this time.

The End

Review anyone? You'll make my day!:)

Sorry if I made some grammar mistakes…I tend to get carried away when writing and some things may slip…

Till' next time!


	2. THE meeting

Hi folks! :)

I know, this was supposed to be a one-shot but you people are very persuasive, believe me :) So I decided to try and continue with this story. I'm not sure how long this will be in the end…I guess we'll see where my inspiration will take me!

I wrote the first half of this during school, international law just wasn't as interesting this day…

Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed or added my story to your favorites! You made me a very happy gal :) Well, on with the story.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Life As a Habit

2. Chapter

Anthony DiNozzo knew for certain that he should have stayed in bed that day rather than get up and face the new day. Since coming home the previous night, sleep seemed like an unreachable goal. Instead of resting like any sane person, he sat on his bed and stared into the dark. Not very amusing and according to people who supposedly knew him, not very DiNozzo-like. His mind refused to rest and was running a thousand miles per second. So it wasn't much of a surprise that when his alarm clock went off, it ended across the room in a pile of its single parts. After glaring at the pile for a couple of minutes he groaned and decided it was enough sulking for the morning. His boss would have his hide if he were to come in late, and who knows what Daniel, his partner, would fuck up without him to cover his ass.

He splashed his face with cold water, got dressed and drove to his favorite diner for breakfast. The owner of the place was an 80-year-old former policeman with a permanent smile on his face and an outrageous and action-filled story to tell each time. Tony suspected not all of it was 100 percent true, more like an interesting blend of reality and tv show stuff. Otherwise, old Mr. Dorian could give Chuck Norris a run for his money.

He was surprised when the cheerful old man was nowhere to be seen upon arriving at the diner. He suppressed the gnawing feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was wrong and decided to ask the waitress about Mr. Dorian when she came to take his order. When Lucy, with a solemn look upon her face, told him that the diner owner was in the hospital due to a heart attack he suffered during the night, it literally took his breath away. He wanted to go and see him right away but a quick call to his boss left him no option but to go to work and hope for a short day at the office so he could go to the hospital afterwards.

And now, here he was, sitting at his desk and doing fucking paperwork while his friend could be dying in the hospital, for all he knew. His trail of thoughts was interrupted by the incessant ringing of his cell phone. He ignored the urge to slam it against the hard surface and took a couple of deep breaths to calm his nerves. Pasting on a cheerful smile, Tony answered hi s phone in a typical DiNozzo-like fashion:"Anthony DiNozzo, how may I help you this fine day?" Damn, was he a good actor. He found out long ago that the happy front kept the unwanted questions at bay. Nobody liked complicated.

"Cut the crap, DiNozzo," the voice of his boss barked into the phone," we've got a double homicide. Get your ass over to the Northeast Harbor." And then he hung up. Detective Sgt. Ward was a man of few words, and those few words tended to be in anger. Especially at one Tony DiNozzo. He contemplated calling his partner but decided against it, Daniel probably knew about it already and simply forgot to call him. It wouldn't be the first time. Tony sighed and decided to take these things in stride. It seemed so far that his wish upon the falling star wasn't helping. Not that anything ever went easy in his life.

Grabbing his gear he quickly made his way out of the office , all the while thinking his day just might have gone worse.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Upon arriving at the scene he was immediately greeted by his partner, Daniel Kinsey.

"Hey, DiNozzo, where have ya been?!" He sounded angry, Tony noted, observing the older detective from head to toe. His eyes were bloodshot, a couple of days worth stubble on his face, wrinkled shirt and Tony would bet all his money that it was the same set of clothes he had on for the last 3 or 4 days.

"Where? At the office, where else should I be when no one bothered to tell me we had a case?" he replied, frustration evident in his voice.

"Don't get smart with me, boy!" Kinsey hissed grabbing Tony by the collar and bringing him closer. The stench of strong alcohol assaulted the younger detective's senses and he shuddered involuntarily. At times like these, it was easy to spot the similarities between his father and his partner. Whether it was the alcohol addiction or the disgusted way he called him boy, at that moment he was 10 again and being told he was a waste of space.

"We've been over this before, boy. Learn to respect your superiors!"

Tony wanted to pull away and give him a smart retort, he wanted to tell him to stick it and that he won't bow to someone who thinks mouth hygiene means washing your mouth with alcohol every night, but he couldn't. He was trapped somewhere in the past and as hard as he tried he couldn't escape.

Kinsey seemed satisfied with his silence and released the tight hold he had on his collar. Tony staggered backwards from being released so abruptly and tried to get back his composure.

"Glad to know you understand, _Tony_." He patted his cheek."Now go and look good before the boss, he seems to in a particularly bad mood and I don't want to be in his line of fire."

Tony stared numbly after Daniel's retreating back and cursed himself silently. It wasn't Kinsey's fault that he turned to the bottle, his wife left him for her lover and took their 6-year-old daughter with them. He hasn't seen them since. Who could blame him for trying to drink away those memories? Tony looked down at his shaking hands. It was all his fault. He was being insolent and out of line, the dressing down was well deserved and…and…weak. Weak for letting something as trivial bother him so much. He is a fucking policeman, he should be able to take it, not have a panic attack. Maybe he should have…stepped on that gas pedal yesterday…

"Hey, DiNozzo! Done daydreaming?!" Detective Sgt. Ward was looking at him with a scowl on his face. Time to shove the insecurities and doubts tight into the darkest and farthest part of his mind and concentrate on being Tony, the goofy detective extraordinaire.

"Not yet sir, I still haven't got Jessica Alba where I wanted her!"

He still had a day for _something _to happen. The night is still away. And he wanted to visit at the hospital later. Yep, he still had a day.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The girl they fished out of the water was young. Too young to be the case of the Baltimore homicide department. She wasn't the youngest victim Tony saw, by far, but something about her blue eyes staring unseeingly into the sky struck a chord with him and he couldn't help but wish he was here when someone decided to end this girl's life. It would be so much better for many people if he was the one whose murder they would be investigating. He turned around and shot a couple of photos of the second body. It was a middle aged man, dressed casually in jeans and a black shirt. There was a stab wound in his upper body, in the middle of his chest, it was probably the cause of death, but that wasn't for him to find out.

Tony looked around, searching with his eyes for their medical examiner and found him in a heated conversation with an elderly gentleman in a black coat. He was accompanied with a slightly younger man with graying hair and a scowl on his face. For some reason he had a feeling he would be meeting the man very soon. Something about him screamed importance.

"Damn, the feds are already here. That was fast," Detective Sgt. Ward cursed and Tony looked at him in surprise.

"The feds? Why would they be here? "

"You would know if you were here sooner, DiNozzo," he sent a glare his way ,"while you were sitting on your ass doing nothing, we identified the bodies. The girl's name is Samantha Morgan, aged 23, student at Baltimore University. The man is Walter Curiton, former US Navy. "

"Ooooh, so those are navy cops?" Tony looked in interest at both men who were now taking some of their equipment from the car. The younger of the two met his gaze and held it as if assessing him, before striding towards him.

"Here they come. I'll be damned if I'll just let some damn desk huggers take over my case!"

The two men made their way towards them, the older one slightly lagging behind, obviously finding it hard keeping up with his younger companion. Stopping in front of them he looked at the superior officer first before his gaze slid to Tony. Ward straightened himself and gave the other man his most intimidating look.

"Gibbs, NCIS. Who is in charge around here?" Gibbs was obviously not one for pleasantries.

"I do say Jethro, you seem to be getting faster the older you get," Gibbs' companion joined them and Tony gave him a wide smile. He already liked the older man. Gibbs gave him a cursory glance before introducing him with a curt, " Doctor Mallard, he will be performing the autopsies." It wasn't a question, nor an order, just stating a fact and Tony almost wished for a camera, this would get ugly.

"I am Detective Sgt. Ward and this is detective DiNozzo. "

"Anthony D. DiNozzo, big D, little i, big N and little ozzo. But you can call me Tony." Gibbs and Ward paid him almost no attention and continued their little staring match, but the elderly doctor gave him a smile and patted his arm. "And you can call me Ducky. It's nice to meet you, my boy, although, dare I say the circumstances leave a lot to be desired. "

The dead girl flashed before his eyes and he could only nod solemnly.

"Ok, your examiner can do the autopsies, but we're sharing this investigation."

"Agreed, but I want our forensic specialist working on the evidence. "

"Deal, take this one with you, his partner shouldn't be far away," Ward nodded his head towards Tony.

"Now I know what it means to be sold," the younger man whispered to Ducky, who chuckled in response. "I assure you, my dear boy, Gibbs isn't as bad as he looks."

Tony frowned, "That isn't very reassuring, Ducky."

"You two done with socializing so we can get to work?" Gibbs barked and strode past him, "DiNozzo, with me."

Tony stared for a moment after him before remembering he was supposed to be following. This ought to be an interesting experience…and he wished for something to happen today. It was official, his falling star was blind and slightly out of its mind. Damn.

To be continued

Please read and review, you'll make me eternally happy:)


	3. Complications

**EDIT- Sorry, I had to repost this chapter because I've just noticed it it deleted a couple of words from the story..weird...like the person whose house they went to at the end...sorry:)**

Thank you so so much for all your alerts and favorites but most of all for the reviews. They make me day, each and every one of them.

Special thank goes to secretchild for her encouragement, she gives me courage to continue:)

Chapter 3

"Tell me what you know so far," Gibbs ordered without looking away from the body of the young woman, whose murder they were investigating. His tone brook no argument and Tony found himself instinctively replying without a moment's hesitation.

"The girl's name is…was Samantha Morgan," Tony glanced briefly at his notes."Aged 23, student at the local university. Worked part-time as a waitress at a local restaurant . Both her parents are still alive and live here, in Baltimore."

Gibbs nodded and Tony took it as a sign to continue.

"The other victim is Walter Curiton, former US Navy Lieutenant, worked as a civil engineering officer and was honorably discharged two years ago. Has been working in a construction company since . His wife's name is Diane and she works as a florist. The bodies were found this morning by a jogger, they were floating on the water's surface, face down. Which by law of physics means they were dead before thrown into the water . That's it so far," Tony summarized and fell silent.

Without even glancing his way, Gibbs turned around and headed straight for the second body, where Ducky was examining the stab wound with a frown on his face. He was impressed by the correct deduction that the younger man made, but kept it to himself, no need to have a cocky detective on his back.

"Duck?" Gibbs asked glancing from the dead ex-lieutenant towards the obviously perplexed ME.

"Ah, Jethro, young Anthony, I may have found something of importance for you." Ducky bent down and pointed at the neck of the dead lieutenant."See these bruises here gentlemen?"

"They go kind of around his neck, think he was strangled?" Tony asked, still looking intently at the now pale yellow marks. It was hard to believe one could kill such a strong and healthy man with just pressing down with enough pressure at the right places.

"Precisely, but what's interesting is that this stab wound here. "Ducky pointed at the man's chest. "It seems to have been inflicted post mortem."

Gibbs looked up and met the ME's eyes. "He was stabbed even though he was already dead?" The disbelief was expertly hidden under many layers of nonchalance but Tony could see a flash of disgust in the older man's eyes.

"I'm afraid so Jethro. The estimated time of death is between 23:00 and 02:00. Without the autopsy I can't say anything more though, and this fellow here just refuses to talk to me. " Tony grinned at the thought. Ducky talking to his "patients" while he cut them open seemed like such a weird idea, but somehow it didn't surprise him. He gave the impression of the kind of a person who would show his respect in this way, in treating them like people , instead of just skin and bones.

"You know, I would get worried if they_ did_ talk to you, ." The younger detective grinned at Ducky.

"You're quite right my boy, that would be worrisome, in fact I knew this one gentleman…"

"You two can swap stories some other time, what about the girl?" Gibbs cut in and Tony sulkily crossed his arm across his chest. Jeez, and he thought they were supposed be partners and cooperate…but so far it had been a one man show. Kinsey was not going to like this...

"The poor girl died earlier than our gentleman, approximately between 22:00 and midnight. Cause of death is so far unknown. There are no visible injuries except for these bruises on her arms. But these could hardly be classified as the cause of death. "

"She probably struggled against the person attacking her," Tony voiced his thoughts aloud and received a curt nod from Gibbs in response.

"Other than that we'll have to wait for the autopsy results. But if I could a venture a guess, the poor girl was poisoned." Ducky added and shook his head sadly, it was never easy to perform autopsies on such young people, no matter how much death one has seen in his lifetime. He sighed, none of this mattered anymore, two people died and justice had to be served.

"Take these bodies to the homicide department, Duck, they should have everything you need for the autopsy there." The special agent ordered and upon seeing the doctor nod, turned towards the younger detective.

"Where the hell is your partner, DiNozzo? Where did he go to interview the witnesses, Baghdad?" Gibbs glared at Tony, even though he knew the boy wasn't responsible for his partner, but damn if he was to tolerate such irresponsibility. They were investigating real murder, not playing cops and robbers.

Tony's mind was racing, what was he supposed to say to the no-nonsense special agent? That his partner probably ended up taking witness statements at the local bar? That he forgot why he got there in the first place and was probably way past his first glass. He felt 10 again, being asked why it took his father 3 days before remembering he forgot his son at the hotel. It was stupid to feel embarrassed, he knew, but somehow, he felt responsible. They were a team, after all.

"He'll show up, he's just a perfectionist, you know? He won't come till' he has every detail from all the witnesses, he'll probably even interview the bugs on the walls if he suspects them of seeing anything." He was rambling, he knew that, but he found out long ago that it tended to discourage people to try and ask again. But it didn't seem to work as well with the stoic man standing in front of him; he just glared and crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's fine and all DiNozzo, but do I look like I care? " Gibbs growled.

"Um, I can give him a call, if you really want."

"Well no, DiNozzo, I want you to scream at the top of your lungs and hope he'll hear ya!" came the sarcastic reply but Tony couldn't have been happier. He grinned, humor, even if sarcastic, was something he could work with, not the choking silence from before. He leaned forward, as if wanting to tell Gibbs a secret and replied," I have pretty healthy lungs, I could try it out if you're interested."

The glare he received in return wasn't as cold as before, and Tony could have sworn he saw a flash of amusement in his blue eyes. But it was probably just a hallucination, Gibbs and smiling? No way.

"Try that out and it'll be the last sound you'll ever make."

Tony subconsciously touched his throat, he had no doubts Gibbs was be able to inflict such damage, but he was only joking, right?

"Amazing," the young detective declared, "I bet you invented the whole poker face thing."

"Call your partner before I show you my other invention, the mean right hook." It was uttered with such seriousness, that Tony gulped and quickly took out his phone and dialed the number of Daniel Kinsey, praying all the while that he was doing his job for once.

"What is it DiNozzo?!" the voice on the other side of the receiver grunted. "I 'aven't got time for ya now." The speech was slurred, he had obviously been drinking. Tony pondered his next words carefully, whatever he said had to convince Gibbs that nothing was wrong and that Daniel was a model detective who had no problems with alcohol .None whatsoever. Before he even made up his mind, the phone was snatched away from his hand and he was left staring in open shock at the older man.

"Hey, that's my phone…"Tony indignantly began but was silenced by Gibbs' lifted hand. Sighing he looked at the special agent. He was so getting kicked out of this investigation.

"Detective Kinsey? This is special agent Jethro Gibbs, NCIS, we share the investigation of…," Gibbs suddenly stopped talking and listened to something on the other side. He tightened his hold on the phone for a second before relaxing and hanging up on Kinsey and handing the phone back to its owner.

Gibbs looked Tony in the eyes."He's off the investigation." Turning around, he made his way to his car and Tony couldn't help but gape at his retreating back. Daniel was going to go postal. Once he got all the alcohol out of his system, that is.

"DiNozzo!"Gibbs turned around when he was next to his black, NCIS issued car."You comin' or what?" Tony seriously didn't know what to do. Kinsey was going to kill him once he found out he was kicked off the double homicide. Since becoming partners, Tony was always the one doing the covering for the older detective. At first it was because he was new at Baltimore PD, he knew no one and was determined to make this duty station last. With time, however, the situation got so bad, that Tony was doing all the investigating on his own, even if there were two names listed on the reports. Somehow along the way, Tony started feeling responsible for his partner, it wasn't his fault that life sucked big time and he just couldn't manage without alcohol. It could happen to anyone, it happened to his father…And now everything blew up in his face. Gibbs would surely tell the detective Sgt. what was happening and they would kick Daniel out. He would hate him, just like his father always had. And it hurt. No matter how many times he told himself it was pathetic, how many times he stood in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection and repeating that he was better off without such people, no matter what he did or said, Daniel Kinsey was still one of the closest people he had in his life. And it made him sick to the stomach. Guess he hadn't learned as much as he thought since his father.

And now looking at Gibbs, waiting for him by the car with an unreadable expression on his face, he decided it didn't matter anymore. To hell with it all, he would just end it tonight. Plastering on his widest smile, he quickly made his way to the NCIS agent. "You're still paying for the phone call!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Riding in the car with Gibbs should be declared an extreme sport, Tony thought while gripping his seat in fear of falling out of the car at the nearest turn. His stomach was doing strange flip-flops and he literally saw his life flash before his eyes. Maybe he wouldn't have to wait for tonight to end it all, Gibbs just may do the job for him.

"You should have been a F1 driver…" Tony managed to mutter despite the heavy breathing he was doing to keep the nausea at bay. And to think the way to Mrs. Curiton's house was supposed to be relatively easy and short .

Gibbs glanced at the younger man and barely avoided a car heading their way. "Why's that, DiNozzo?"

"You certainly have the…right moves, you're only a danger to yourself, since there's no one else in the car with you and you are only allowed on certain circuits. Safety approved, if I may add."

The special agent gave him a glare but to Tony's surprise it lacked its usual intensity. Huh, maybe Gibbs did have a sense of humor…buried somewhere very deep and unreachable.

When they finally stopped, Tony quickly jumped out of the car and was ready to fall to his knees and kiss the ground when he noticed Gibbs was already at the door and ready to ring the doorbell. He took one last breath and hurried after the older man. It definitely took experience to survive Gibbs-driving without having a near heart attack.

They waited a couple of minutes but there was no answer. "What now? She could be anywhere. And without a search warrant…and there's no way we'll get it since she's not a suspect yet…" Tony leaned against the door in frustration and was surprised when the door moved under his weight. Without anything to hold onto, he ended laying flat on his back, shocked green eyes staring at the ceiling.

Suddenly a pair of blue eyes moved into his line of sight. "Good job finding a way in, DiNozzo."

Tony blinked in surprise, no one had ever praised him for falling on his ass before. In fact, praise had been practically a foreign word so far. So why was Gibbs…? He decided the question could wait, stood up from the floor and looked around the house. It was a mess with the furniture moved haphazardly around the room, glass shards and papers scattered all over the floor.

"Mrs. Curiton ?!" He yelled in hopes she would answer, safe and sound, but all he heard in return was silence and some rustling of papers, as Gibbs went through them.

"Call your buddies from the department, DiNozzo, this is a crime scene." Gibbs was staring at something on the floor and following his line of sight Tony found himself looking at a knife laying in a puddle of dark red blood on the carpet.

"Oh, shit."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Review anyone? Please:)

Just a little note: This won't be a slash story…just to make it clear :)

-Andy


	4. Footprint

Hi peeps!

Another chapter for you…since you are soooooo great and I love each and every reader. Especially those of you who review. You. Make. My. Day!:)

I hope you like this chapter…

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

They found no body, just the puddle of blood staining the wooden floor and seeping into the pale grey carpet. Tony stood up from his crouching position and took one last photo of the crime scene. He looked around the house, Gibbs was growling at every unfortunate policeman who got in his way. The man really didn't know how to share, especially not an investigation. It would be pretty hilarious, if Tony wasn't a little bit unnerved as well. There were so many possibilities as to whom the blood belonged and how it got there. It was such a nice house as well, with a very homey atmosphere to it. Fluffy bunny slippers were proudly displayed next to the green couch; framed photographs with the smiling couple were systematically positioned on every shelf or cabinet. Homes like this weren't supposed to become crime scenes. Flats like his, with hollow white walls, no photos, no personal belongings, no food in the fridge and piles of his clothes on the floor next to the bed, were made for that. It wouldn't be that impossible to imagine a puddle of blood staining his floor. His trail of thought was brought to an abrupt end when Gibbs stopped raising holly hell and came to stand next to Tony.

"What do you think detective?"

To say that Tony was surprised would be an understatement. Nobody ever asked for his opinion, ever. Not when he was still a kid, not now. He had learned to live with that. So why was the older man so keen on turning his life upside down? He looked at Gibbs who was watching him expectantly. Was he testing him or something?

"Well," he started, "there's a couple of possibilities to what happened here." He stopped to look at Gibbs and gauge his reaction. The older man truly looked as if he wanted to hear what Tony had to say. Taking his chance, Tony took a deep breath and continued.

"This could be the original crime scene. Our two victims could have been killed here and then disposed off at the harbor. Since the wife is missing, we could consider her a suspect on the run. Or she could have been attacked as well and we are either looking at another murder or possibly kidnapping. Even though I don't see a reason for that, the husband's dead and the Curitons don't have that much excessive money." He trailed off, unsure if he was supposed to speculate any further and risk getting told off or just stop and pretend not to have said anything at all.

"So, which option do YOU think it is?" It was official, he somehow managed to get himself into the twilight zone.

"Well…" he started, "I think she may have been hurt by our murderer, or possibly worse. It's improbable that she would be able to overpower her husband, kill him and dispose of his body at the harbor. Assuming she was working alone…"

"Never assume," Gibbs interrupted.

"Ok, so I don't assume…am I at least allowed to think?" He knew he was being overdramatic, but it was better than admitting that he was nervous to voice his opinion, because nobody ever asked him what he thought.

Gibbs gave him an exasperated look."No, I just want your mindless input. What do you think, DiNozzo?"

Tony cocked one eyebrow."There are lots of people who would swear that mindless input is all I do."

"Then prove them wrong."

It sounded so simple coming from Gibbs. Just don't let them get to you and don't give up. Prove you're not just an empty shell but a thinking, breathing, _living_ person. Them problem was, nobody ever thought Tony the person to be enough. And here he was, Gibbs, who knew absolutely nothing about him, but encouraging him to show the world what he was made of. Fat chance of that happening. He'd lose the last couple of people who were still able to tolerate him.

"How do you know there's something to prove?" He knew he was being unreasonable about this, but the thought that he managed to catch the straight- faced agent off-guard gave him an odd sense of satisfaction. He could still feel Gibbs' intense stare on him as he turned around and marched out of the house. They still had to interview the neighbors if anyone heard or saw anything unusual at the Curitons' place, but he was content to just wait for Gibbs here. He was bound to come and get him eventually. Then, he hoped, they'd call it a day, so he could go and visit George in the hospital. And after that…who knows where he'd end up after tonight.

As he was waiting outside for Gibbs, he crouched down and inspected the flowers adoring the garden. It was a long shot, but he remembered one case when the blood got cleaned up at the crime scene but the murderer got careless once outside of the house. Even with his limited knowledge in flowers, Tony could see they were professionally taken care of. No surprise there, since Mrs. Curiton was a florist.

There were a couple of flowers whose leaves and stems were broken but that could have been caused by the countless policemen running around. Putting on his gloves he bagged and tagged a couple of them, just in case.

"Bingo," he whispered to himself as he uncovered a slightly bloody footprint, hidden beneath broken flowers. The perpetrator must have been more careless outside than inside when he forgot to cover his tracks like this. "Must have thought it would get overlooked," Tony muttered and searched for more evidence. To his frustration, there was nothing else to find. "Weird…"

"Hey, you!" he caught the attention of the nearest policeman, a pale and nervous looking young officer. He was probably at his first crime scene, Tony noted while taking a sample of the blood from the footprint.

"Bring me some adhesive paper, I've found a footprint."

"A-adhesive paper, sir?" the officer stuttered and Tony almost rolled his eyes.

"Did I stutter officer?" Tony forced himself to remain calm; he had been a rookie once upon a time as well.

"N-no sir," he replied but remained standing in place.

"Don't tell me you forgot how to walk?!" This was getting ridiculous.

"Uh, sir, um, you see, I don't know where exactly, I mean…"

"This is the reason I only work with people I choose." Gibbs strolled out of the house, gloves on his hands, holding the adhesive paper. He dismissed the flustered officer with a curt wave of his hand and came to stand next to Tony.

"Here." he offered the paper and Tony gladly accepted.

"How did you know…?"

"I've had a feeling," Gibbs succinctly replied while watching the younger man place the paper, adhesive side down, over the impression. Tony looked up from the ground to stare at Gibbs.

"Are you always this to the point?"

"Usually, comes with the training," the special agent answered and Tony wrinkled his brow in confusion.

"Training? You mean like some ultra -secret special agent training? Do they teach you how to dismantle a body in three easy steps?"

"Marine training. And no, they don't teach us how to dismantle a person in three steps…they do it in one." Tony involuntarily gulped. If only Gibbs wasn't so good with his poker face…

"No wonder you're without a team," the young detective muttered.

"I've heard that, DiNozzo," Gibbs reminded him dryly, "and if I wanted to get rid of someone, I wouldn't dismantle them. I'd shoot them. Saves energy and is less dirty. "

Tony grinned from ear to ear, enjoying the light banter. "Now why do I believe that?"

His superiors never allowed this type of behavior, so it came as a surprise that the hard ass marine wasn't against it as well. There had to be a catch somewhere. Maybe he was making him feel at ease and comfortable just so it would hurt more when it was all taken from him in the end? Maybe this was all a set-up?

He shook his head to get rid of all these crazy thoughts. It was stupid; his lack of self-confidence was definitely creating havoc in his brain.

He concentrated on his job instead. Feeling Gibbs' gaze on him, he took extra care when pressing the paper on the footprint and then peeling it off. Satisfied with the result he handed the adhesive paper with the impression to Gibbs, who bagged and tagged it.

"We'll give this to Abby to see what she can tell us."

"Who's Abby?" Tony asked, curious, he wasn't aware that some Abby was in on the case with them. Then it hit him. "She's the forensic specialist you've talked about with chief Ward?"

Gibbs gave him a smile and clapped him on the back."I knew you weren't all talk and no brains."

It was definite; he never ever met anyone like Gibbs before. Was that some kind of a compliment?

"Did you just compliment me in a very subtle, almost invisible way?" Tony looked hopefully at the older man, who even despite shaking his head in denial, was smiling slightly at the same time.

"Never said that. You must be hallucinating, DiNozzo." He turned around and briskly started walking towards the nearest neighbor, Tony trailing behind him.

"But Gibbbbbbs, my hearing is better than good, it's basically too good. It's so good that I could probably hear a pin drop in China, seriously! I can hear you even before you say anything!"

Gibbs turned around suddenly and Tony almost crashed into him, not prepared for the sudden stop. The older man gave him an annoyed look.

"See? Now you're about to tell me to shut up." At Jethro's pointed look he added, "And I'm shutting up right now." The special agent gave him a satisfied nod and Tony continued following Gibbs in silence, musing about the older man in front of him. It was hard to understand him; he had mood swings like a pregnant woman, ranging from good humored and tolerant to snarling and an A-grade bastard. But he gave him a compliment…nobody ever did that. And he even told him he did a good job…for falling on his ass! Something fishy was going on, and he was going to find out what, even if it was the last thing he did.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

"Where were you were yesterday night, Mrs. Steling? " Gibbs went straight to the point as usual and Tony sighed. The girl sitting in front of them was young and clearly nervous about talking to the police. Tony could understand that. And the ex-marine was definitely not making the situation easier. He watched as the blonde woman played with the ring on her finger, twirling it around and then pulling it off, before repeating the whole circle again. Gibbs seemed to have noticed it as well because he softened his tone.

"Mrs. Steling? Are you okay to continue?"

The young woman nodded. "I am so sorry, it's just… that I knew both Walter and Lisa, I mean the Curitons' and it…came as a big shock that somebody would do…"she trailed off and took a shuddering breath to calm her nerves." I was at home yesterday night. My husband is away on business since last Friday so that just leaves me to take care of Sammie, that's our 3 year old daughter." A small smile found its way on her face and her whole demeanor changed. She sat a little straighter on the couch and seemed stronger somehow.

"Did you hear anything suspicious coming from the Curitons' house? Or did you by chance see anything?"

Gibbs asked and Mrs. Steling bit her bottom lip in concentration.

"I didn't hear anything…but then again, I was probably sleeping. Taking care of a hyperactive 3 year old is tiring, believe me. "Gibbs smiled slightly and nodded in agreement.

"But now that you mention it, there was something strange," she snapped her fingers, "around midnight I woke up to a loud noise. It sounded like something hard hitting the ground. At first, I thought I was just dreaming you know, but then I heard a car start. I stood up from the bed and looked out of the window. I could see a car leaving Walter and Lisa's house. It was too dark to see what kind of a car it was exactly, but it was red. And not small, but not too big either…umm, I'm sorry, I can't tell you anything more."

Tony shook his head, "You were a great help, believe me. I never remember anything when I wake up during the night." He leaned forward as if telling the young woman a secret.

" When I was a kid, my nanny once tried to give me my medicine and I supposedly got up, took the pills from her and threw them under the bed for the monster living there. Then I climbed back into bed and promptly fell asleep. Nanny swore it really happened, even though I don't remember a thing."

She chuckled and nodded. "There are so many tales to be told about giving medicine to Sammie during the night as well."

"I thank you for your help, Mrs. Steling. " Gibbs shook her hand and Tony followed suit.

"Yeah, thanks, you've been a great help."

"Oh, it's no problem at all, I just hope you find out who is responsible for this."

Once outside Tony leaned against the NCIS car and sighed. "The neighbors weren't able to tell us much…"

Gibbs looked around the neighborhood; they've talked to every neighbor in vicinity and nobody heard or saw anything suspicious. Only Mrs. Steling was able to add a new piece of information, the color of the car and the time.

"We're still early into the investigation DiNozzo. This isn't a crime show; cases aren't solved in one day."

"I know that!" Tony defended himself. "I'm just hoping you won't shoot me during sleep one day, because the investigation was going nowhere." He smiled to show it was all in good humor and Gibbs looked up towards the sky. Tony followed his line of sight and frowned when he saw nothing interesting there.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Praying for patience," Gibbs replied seriously, which earned him a mock hurt look from DiNozzo. He shook his head at the younger man's antics, secretly amused by the homicide detective and his ability to joke around in every situation. But there was something more to the boy and Gibbs vowed to find out who Anthony DiNozzo really was under the mask. But for now, he would give him a break.

"It's late, DiNozzo. Go home and rest, I'm picking you up from your apartment at 7 AM sharp tomorrow. I'm not waiting, so either you come on time or you don't come at all."

Tony gave him a nod and shuffled his feet in a nervous gesture. How was he supposed to tell Gibbs that he needed a ride back to the harbor because he left his car there? It wasn't the older man's duty to help him, he was officially dismissed to go home, so that meant he was off duty and no responsibility of Gibbs' whatsoever…

"Let me decide for you. Come, I'll give you a ride back to the harbor."

Tony was too stunned to react at first, but when he looked at Gibbs, he was already sitting behind the steering wheel and looking very impatient.

"Sometimes today," he growled and Tony quickly got into the car and fastened his seatbelt. With the older man's driving it seemed like a very smart thing to do. Suddenly a thought occurred to him and he looked towards Gibbs.

"Hey, how did you know what I was thinking of asking you?"

Gibbs smiled mysteriously and started the car. "Comes with the training, DiNozzo."

For the next half an hour he proceeded to show Tony why getting into the car with Gibbs could be considered a health risk. He really should have walked.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Please, pretty please, review?:) With a cherry on top?

-Andy


	5. Alone in Loneliness

Hi lovelies! Thank you so much for your support! Each and every review, alert and favorite warmed my heart and made me a very happy lady!

I've wanted to post this sooner, but I went on a trip to Krakow and the concentration camp in Auschwitz yesterday and I just couldn't find the energy to do anything afterwards. The trip was nice; Krakow is beautiful and very atmospheric! And the concentration camp…I knew what was getting into, I knew all about what had happened there, but it still shocked me. It's just so unthinkable that people did this to each other. It was horrifying and inhuman. It made me angry and sad at the same time. It's just…we should never forget what happened to those people, because like it was said in one quote, that would be like letting the die once again. If any of you want to add something…you can pm me :) ok, on with the story, that's why you're here, right?

* * *

Chapter 5

Tony managed to survive the ride relatively unharmed. His breathing was slightly erratic, his pulse was in overdrive but all his limbs were still attached, which he considered a success. Gibbs drove him to the harbor and once he was out of the car, dismissed him with a curt, "7 AM. Be there!"

Tony was left staring after the speeding black car, still a little bit shaky from the adrenaline rush caused by Gibbs' driving. Shaking his head to get rid of the remaining anxiety, he looked around in search of his car. It wasn't that hard to find, since it was pretty late and the harbor was almost completely deserted.

As he passed the police tapes, his legs took on a will of their own and stopped right in front of the place where just a few hours ago, the two bodies had been fished out of the water. His vivid imagination kept playing tricks on his tired mind; corpses were floating on the water surface, their eyes staring unseeingly into the dark sky. He shook his head to get rid of the images; there was no sense in torturing himself like that.

He quickly made his way to his red mustang and sat down in the driver's seat. Letting out a deep breath he wasn't even aware of holding, he leaned against the seat in exhaustion. Tony closed his eyes and relaxed for the first time since getting up in the morning. The day, as a whole, sucked big time. It started with George being in the hospital, continued with the enigmatic Gibbs and Daniel being thrown off the investigation, before finally ending in a dramatic ride in the car with the ex-marine. I ride he wasn't very keen on repeating anytime soon.

But what surprised Tony the most was, that he kind of liked working with Gibbs. Despite his gruff ways, hard exterior and demanding personality, he had given him a compliment and truly believed there was something worth his time in Tony. Even if Tony himself was more of a skeptic than the older man, it was sort of nice to hear someone place trust in him, instead of calling him worthless and good-for-nothing. His hands subconsciously curled into fists as memories assaulted his mind. Memories of his childhood, of how he used to try so hard to please his father, only to end up locked in the closet as punishment and crying his heart out.

"You are such a wuss, Anthony!" he growled and punched the steering wheel hard. "Damn!" The feeling of pain was a welcome change and he entertained the idea of continuing till' his hands hurt more than the rest of him, especially where it couldn't be seen. But it was more probable that he would trash the car before that would happen.

"Calm down," Tony whispered to himself. "Nothing the man ever said was true. You are not worthless. You are not."

He looked into the rear view mirror and gazed at the pale and haggard face staring back at him. Was that really him? The Anthony DiNozzo who capitalized on his good looks and neat appearance? Hard to believe…

He swallowed hard to contain the nausea; he was sick of his life, of all the lies, the pretending and never being _fucking_ enough. His eyes fell on the calm surface of the water. If he'd drive his mustang into the river now, there would be no witnesses and he wouldn't be found until somebody noticed he was missing. And since nobody really cared about what he was doing…it would take some time to find him. The thought of being dead for days and nobody noticing was a bitter pill to swallow.

What was there for him to look forward to? Days passing, each and every one filled with the same meaningless and painful reality. Why was it easy for so many people to live, while he had to struggle to survive? Why did breathing come naturally to the most, when he had to remind himself not to forget how it was done? _Why?_

"No!" He snapped his eyes open."No, there has to be something. There has to be…"

There just had to be something worth fighting for!

Gibbs said he would be waiting for him at 7 am. And then they'd go to meet this Abby and see what the evidence revealed. There still was the double homicide to solve, after all.

"Gibbs wouldn't like it if I wasn't on time tomorrow." Tony smiled at his reflection in the mirror. "God, he'd think I was weak and pathetic because I killed myself. And he'd regret complimenting me and telling me I did a good job." It was his first real compliment since his basketball coach told him he had a good aim…He didn't want Gibbs to take it back.

He would give it another day or two, see where the investigation would take them; see if Gibbs still thought he was worth his time by then. Tony quickly started the car and made his way to the hospital to see Mr. Dorian, all the while thinking how big of a coward he was.

"He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day, huh?" Tony really didn't think he had much fight left in him.

* * *

Hospitals were never one of his most favorite places. There was just something about the mixture of disinfectant in the air, and the gloomy atmosphere weighing down upon the whole building, that gave him the chills. People were dying there; it was a hospital, after all.

Tony asked about the whereabouts of Mr. Dorian and was directed to his room. He fears were abated slightly when he realized his friend wasn't in ICU but in a regular room. That was a good sign, right?

He took a deep breath and opened the door with his trademark DiNozzo smile. The elderly man was lying on the bed, propped against the pillows and watching television with a frown on his wrinkled face. Tony's eyes took in the heart monitor next to the bed and its steady beeping.

"Hey, Mr. Dorian!" Tony greeted and the elderly patient gave beamed back at him.

"Tony, my boy, sit down, sit down." He patted the chair next to his bed. Tony took the offered place and looked at the television screen. "Anything good on TV?"

"Absolutely not!" Mr. Dorian replied and shook his head. "The people making these TV-shows obviously have no idea how crime investigation really works! I mean, solving a murder in just one day? Why, I remember one case we had in the good old days. My boy, it took us years of no leads before finally finding the crucial piece of evidence and solving the murder!"

Tony grinned and shook his head. "But yet you still watch them all the time."

"When you'll get as old as me, Tony, you'll understand."

The younger man looked grim. "That long, huh?"

"Old or not, I could still give you a spanking, kid." There was a glint in the ex-policeman's eyes that stopped Tony in responding with a cheeky "You'd have to catch me first". There were times when it was better to let it go, especially with Mr. Dorian, who always kept his word.

"So, what happened, Mr. Dorian? " There was a moment of silence as the older man grabbed the remote control with one hand the switch off the TV that was by now running commercials. Tony noticed his other hand stayed clenched by his side.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing! But these white coats insist on letting me stay the night for observation! Said it was standard procedure in cases like mine. Pfft, standard procedure my ass! It's all because I'm old and they think I'd fall over standing or something. I swear, it's as if old meant incapable. Did someone change the dictionary meaning since I was young? Because let me tell you, I've used to be a very passionate student of our language an-"

"But I've thought you've had a heart attack!" Tony cut him off.

Mr. Dorian frowned. "Where did you hear such nonsense?"

"Lucy from your diner told me," Tony replied, "I went there this morning, saw you weren't there and asked her."

"Ah, Lucy, the sweet girl…always jumping into conclusions. I've just had a moment of lightheadedness, they've sent me to the hospital and then I've called her. Guess I didn't explain it very thoroughly." Mr. Dorian smiled slightly at him and patted his harm. "Nice to know you've been worried about me."

"Of course I was." Tony sighed. "I wanted to visit you sooner, but we've caught a case and NCIS got involved and there was absolutely no time."

The ex-policeman's blue eyes lit up with when hearing the word 'case'. He leant forward with a serious look on his face and whispered. "Is it classified? The case I mean?"

Tony was confused, what did have to do with anything? "No, it's not classified."

The older man smiled widely and snapped his fingers. "Fantastic! So, lay it on me, what's it about?"

Tony blinked once, twice before grinning in response. "Well it's a double homicide. We found the bod-" His sentence was interrupted by a swift knock on the door. Before either of the two men in the room could reply, the door opened and a young woman with curly black hair stepped in.

"Grandpa!" she cried and threw herself on the bed, hugging the surprised older man sitting there.

"Rebecca? What are you doing here?"

The girl sniffled and buried her face deeper into the arms holding her. "Visiting you. What else would I be doing here?"

"You came all the way from Los Angeles to visit an old man like me?" Rebecca looked at him with an exasperated look on her pale face.

"Of course I came! And mom is on the way along with David, they should be here tomorrow." She ran her hand through his curly grey hair."Your hair's a mess like always, grandpa!

While Rebecca fussed about her grandfather, Tony quietly made his way out of the room. Once outside, he leaned against the wall and looked at the ceiling with furrowed brows. He felt conflicted, which left him confused as well. On one hand, he was happy that Mr. Dorian was not alone in the world, he had someone to love and cherish, someone who would take care of him when needed, but on the other hand, it left him feeling empty. He never saw the older man with family; he thought he had no family. And that made him feel less alone. As crazy as it sounded, he was not alone in his loneliness. But now, the realization that he really was the only person that he knew of without a family hit him hard.

"This sucks," he muttered and slowly made his way home.

* * *

The morning came too soon for Tony's liking. He rolled out of bed more asleep than actually awake, noticed he was running late and Gibbs would be there in exactly ten minutes on the dot, and to top it off, slipped on his socks, crashed into his nightstand and ended sprawled on his living room floor and staring at the ceiling. Suddenly, Tony couldn't help it and started to laugh. Loud and hard, with tears running down his cheeks. If someone saw him, they'd think he was crazy…but maybe he really was?

After the laughing fit ended, he stayed lying where he was and continued staring straight ahead. He really should change the city; there were cracks in his ceiling. Suddenly, he found himself looking at Gibbs, who was leaning over him with his eyebrows raised, demanding explanation without actually expressing it.

"Um, I'm just lying here?"

"I can see that, DiNozzo. The question is why?" It was weird holding a conversation when lying on the floor, so he quickly stood up.

"Hey, this is my apartment!" Tony scowled but it was hard to look intimidating when he was standing there in his boxer shorts and white shirt with a hippo on it, courtesy of one of his ex-girlfriends. To his defense, it was a very comfortable shirt.

"I know that." Gibbs was obviously amused. "I picked your lock. Not very hard at all, you should get a better one next time."

Tony stood there gaping, while the ex-marine continued. "I came here expecting to find you sleeping in bed and ready to drag you out of bed but I find you laughing at your ceiling. Why's that?"

The younger man colored slightly. "You saw that?!"

"The laughing part? Yeah, I did."

Tony was thinking a thousand miles per second, what should he say to not look too crazy? He couldn't afford to be kicked out of the police for being loony. Maybe he should go with the truth?

"I…I kind of slipped and fell…and it was kind of funny, you know? In the "Home Alone" kind of way. You ever watch the movies? The bad guys did end up on their backs a lot…"

Gibbs shook his head slightly before fixing him with a scrutinizing look. "You broke or hurt anything?"

Tony blinked in surprise. Was the special agent asking about his well-being? He was running late and instead of getting his ass kicked he got…concern? Weird, although, in a very nice sort of way.

"No, I am fine," he replied with a grin on his face.

"You have two minutes to get ready. I'll be waiting in the car." He ordered and turned around to leave, but hesitated at the door. He turned around and added, "We're meeting Abby today." Gibbs gave him a meaningful look, as if that should have told him something. What was it wrong with meeting her?

"I advise you to keep the shirt. It'll make the meeting a lot easier. "And then he was gone, leaving a very confused homicide detective staring at the grey, smiling hippo on his shirt.

* * *

End of Chapter 5

Sorry, I know I've told a couple of you the Abby/Tony meeting would take place in this chapter…but I kind of couldn't fit it in yet. But she's there in the next chapter! And lots of her! I do have my plans for their meeting, but what do you think? Do you want them to like each other right away? Or the opposite? Or something different? You have the right to express your opinion :)


	6. Anger

6. Chapter

Tony did end up wearing the hippo shirt after all; he just put on a black sweater to cover it. There was no need to make a fool of himself it there wasn't a reason. But it was his safety net, in case the meeting went south. He didn't want to admit it, but the meeting with Abby worried him. Gibbs seemed to have a high opinion of the forensic scientist and for some reason, unknown to Tony, it made him feel obliged to leave a good impression. He felt like a kid about to enter his new school and hoping he would be well liked.

He fidgeted in his seat in Gibbs' car. The older man insisted on driving them to the police department, no matter how much Tony argued that he had a fine car of his own and a valid driver's license to go with it. Gibbs just growled that a red mustang wasn't the best choice of a car for an investigator and practically shoved him into the black NCIS car. Nervous as he was though, he hardly noticed Gibbs' reckless driving. Thoughts and questions kept swirling around in his head. What would the forensic scientist be like? He tried to imagine the type of woman who would be able to gain the ex-marine's trust and respect but his own imagination decided to work against him and painted the most frightening pictures. An older woman with a stern, disapproving look on her face and thick glasses framing her glaring eyes… in fact, in his mind she looked oddly similar to his math teacher from high school. Tony shuddered, he hoped that wasn't the case; his math teacher never did like him very much.

"You gonna sit here the whole day?"

Tony looked around and noticed they were parked in front of the entrance of the Baltimore police department and Gibbs was out of the car and looking expectantly at him.

"Umm, I like the car very much?" He grinned at the older man who rolled his eyes promptly walked away, clearly awaiting Tony to follow him. The young detective sighed before following the older man. It was going to be a long day.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Abs?" Gibbs called when entering the Baltimore PD's forensic laboratory with Tony trailing behind him. He put on his most charming smile and hoped Abby was someone who could appreciate it.

"Gibbs!" the high-pitched squeal came from behind them and Tony was suddenly shoved aside by a pigtailed girl, who launched herself at the ex-marine and pulled him into a bear hug.

"You finally came!" Abby exclaimed."I was starting to feel lonely here, especially without my babies to keep me company and can you imagine, no caff-pow!"

To Tony's surprise Gibbs smiled slightly and pulled at one of her pigtails.

"Good to see you too, Abs."

Abby was definitely not what he expected. Dressed completely in black, with a dog collar adoring her neck and black leather high heels on her feet, she was miles away from the woman he imagined her to be, that was for sure. Realizing there was another person in the room she turned around and looked at Tony who almost fidgeted under her scrutiny. Her green eyes observed him for a second before she gave him a wide smile.

"Hi! My name is Abby Scuito, forensic scientist extraordinaire, and who are you?"

Tony grinned in return and introduced himself, "Tony DiNozzo, your friendly neighborhood detective, at your service miss Abby."

He offered her his hand but she surprised him by ignoring it and drawing him into a hug instead. He couldn't help but instinctively stiffen at the contact; people rarely hugged him, so it came as an even bigger surprise that Abby, who practically knew nothing about him, was so willing to embrace HIM! It was a weird feeling, having so much contact with another person without it being of the sexual nature.

Abby must have noticed his stiff posture and quickly drew away. "What's wrong?" She looked distressed. "Is it me? Am I too forward? I am so sorry! It's just that I always hug people! That's what I do, well, except for forensics…I love doing forensics just as much!"

"No, no, it's not that," Tony soothed, "It was just unexpected. I'm not used to people hugging me the first time they see me. "

He smiled his most dazzling smile in hopes she'd forgive him and it seemed to work, since she gave him a shy smile in return.

"Abby," Gibbs interrupted the smiling contest and steered her by the shoulders towards the various machines in the lab." We've got something for you."

Abby's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she skipped around the lab before stopping in front of NCIS agent. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

Gibbs handed her the evidence bags, which she gladly accepted and immediately started looking through them.

"So, what am I looking at guys?"

"Evidence," Gibbs drily replied. Abby punched his arm lightly and Tony couldn't believe his own eyes. This definitely wasn't the relationship he imagined them to have. It was almost…familial. Tony hardly had any relationship with his real family, and his co-workers hardly even knew him. They were all just your average working relationships, nothing more and nothing less. He knew it was mostly his fault, for not letting them in, for not letting them see what Anthony DiNozzo looked like under his flamboyant exterior. And even the few friends he went out with occasionally knew nothing about him. He should probably be proud, he had them all fooled. But why did his chest tighten and a lump form in his throat each and every time he thought of it?

"I can see that!"Abby's indignant reply brought him back to the present. "I just want the juicy details!"

"Abs, it was a double homicide, isn't that juicy enough for you?"

The black haired Goth pouted before looking towards Tony with a hopeful expression. "Tony will surely tell me more?" She winked at him and he automatically returned the gesture.

"Whatever you want to hear, baby."

Gibbs' phone chose exactly that moment to start ringing and the ex-marine quickly withdrew it from his pocket.

"Gibbs!"He barked into the phone and Tony thought he should desperately work on his manners.

Gibbs listened for bit before frowning and holding the phone in front of him. "The phone's dead."

Abby carefully took the phone from him and pushed a couple of buttons.

"You've just cancelled the director, Gibbs."She announced laughing and Tony couldn't understand what was so funny. If he'd do that to Detective Sgt. Ward, it would cost him dearly. He imagined the furious face of his boss and involuntarily shivered in dread. It was better not to anger the man unnecessarily; it was not a pretty sight. But it seemed Gibbs didn't have the same problems with his boss. But then again, it was hard to picture the tough ex-marine cowering in fear before anyone. The older man was probably hell to have as a subordinate, Tony thought grinning. He felt proud to be able to work alongside him, even if only for a short while.

"How is that possible?! I pushed the green button!"Gibbs glared hatefully at the small piece of technology cradled in Abby's hands. It seemed Gibbs wasn't very big on the technological stuff.

"You probably pushed this little red button instead," she pointed to the button right next to the green one. Gibbs squinted slightly and Tony resisted the urge to tell him to get glasses, it wasn't that hard to distinguish between red and green, but he doubted his input would be much appreciated.

The ex-marine muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "stupid cell phone" and "good for nothing buttons", before looking at the phone watching it suspiciously as if it would attack any moment.

"How do you know it was Morrow?"

Abby did something with the phone before showing him the screen with Morrow's name written in big bold letters.

"Caller ID, it shows you who is calling."

This time Tony couldn't stay silent, his curious nature got the best of him. "How come you've never noticed that there was either a name or a number on the screen when somebody was calling you?"

Gibbs gave him a glare. "I never look at the screen, saves time."

"You must understand, "Abby leaned forward as if wanting to share a secret with him,"Bossman isn't a technology junkie if you know what I mean." Tony grinned at her but once again had to wonder how good and…strong for the lack of better terms, their relationship had to be if they knew so much about each other and weren't afraid the other would use it against them. There was something very sad about not knowing relationships like that but he refused to linger on that thought any longer.

Gibbs snatched the phone from Abby, gave them a glare and an order to stay put, before dialing the director's number and leaving the lab.

"I feel like a dog." Tony crossed his hands in front of his chest."Stay put, huh? It reminds me of those cheesy war-movies. When he starts calling me soldier and giving inspirational pep talks I'll be demanding royalties from ticket sales."

"Gibbs isn't one for pep talks. "Abby chuckled. "He gives orders."

Tony nodded, he did notice that. Abby was already looking through the evidence, so he went to join her at the desk where she had put them on. She looked from her work for a second to give him a shy smile, before looking back at the table. He noticed she wasn't actually doing anything, just looking through them over and over again and arranging them in a certain pattern. He wrinkled his brows in confusion, just a couple of minutes ago, Abby had hugged him and acted as if they had been friends for far longer than just a few moments and now…now she was acting _shy_? Something was going on.

"The victims were found floating in the water at the harbor. Samantha Morgan aged 23 and Walter Curiton, former Navy and aged 45. We went to question his wife, Diane Curiton at the house, but she was missing. We've found this," he pointed to the blood in one of the evidence bags, "instead. There was quite a lot of it. Could be the original crime scene." He studied her from his position next to her but she still refused to meet his gaze.

"I guess I should put these machines to work, huh?" She grabbed the evidence and went to one of the machines.

"This is the blood from the victims. Ducky took them at the crime scene, he suspects poisoning as the cause of death of the girl." Tony explained and watched as she worked on one of the machines.

"What's the machine for?"He asked, truly curious. It wasn't every day that he went to the lab; their forensic scientists hated when the detectives invaded their territory and insisted on fetching and then delivering it on their own.

She seemed surprised and finally looked at him. "You don't know the Major Mass Spectrometer?" She sounded almost…scandalized?

"The Major Mass Spec is a machine that analyzed every sample we give him and determines its elemental composition. Isn't that awesome? I love the major mass spec!"She fondly patted the machine before a frown overtook her features. "Although I miss the one in my lab."

"There's a difference? "

"Of course there is!"Abby exclaimed. "My Major Mass Spec has little skull stickers' right here!"She pointed on top of the machine. "And I've written my name on the bottom so everyone knows it belongs to me."

"Neat." He grinned. "The Abby Spec. You should totally patent that. "

"Maybe I will. Want to discuss it during dinner?" She finally looked at him from under her lashes and he suddenly understood her odd behavior without Gibbs in the room. She wanted to go out with him. This wasn't good. He went to meet her with the intention of leaving a good impression on both her and Gibbs and when he met the spunky girl and saw how easy the banter between her and Gibbs was…well he hoped they could be friends. This definitely wasn't the direction he wanted to go. Abby seemed like a nice and caring girl and he had his dating rules. He only dated women that wanted the same as him – to have a fun time without any strings attached. And despite Abby's looks, he didn't think she would want just that, she was too caring. He would only hurt her.

But what should he do now? Tony looked at Abby who was still looking at him, eagerly awaiting an answer. He probably should go with the truth.

"Abby," he sighed, "I'd love to go, but just as friends, ok?"

He watched her face fall and all his hopes of making her his friend were crushed as well. He felt ashamed, couldn't he do anything right anymore?

Abby still refused to look at him and was staring at the machine instead. The silence was suffocating and Tony had to fight hard against the urge to flee from the lab with the silent Goth in it.

"You know, "Abby began, "I had a crush on a boy like you in high school." On a boy like him? What did that mean?

"He was the football star, quarterback, good looking and popular to boot. I've told him, you know? Made him laugh, and me the laughing-stock of the whole school. "Her tone took on an angry edge and he subconsciously took a step back.

She gave him a glare and continued. "I thought you were different for some reason. Guess I was wrong."

He opened his mouth to say something, to defend himself, but she cut him off. "So what was it this time? The black clothes? The make-up? The spiky dog collar?"

By now even Tony was getting angry, why were people always assuming the worst of him? Did he send some kind of a vibe that said "kick me when I'm down"?

"Didn't your boss have a rule about not assuming?"

She raised her chin and looked him square into the eyes. "Gibbs isn't technically my boss. And I'm not assuming, I know people like you." To pretend it didn't hurt would be pointless, he was sure it was written all over his face by now. No matter how good of an actor he was, there was always a line where the acting stopped and Tony the person shone through.

Abby noticed the change in him as well and her anger was quickly being replaced by a different emotion.

She wanted to say something but he was done listening. "Believe what you want. I'm going to find Gibbs, stay put or not." He turned around and marched out of the lab, refusing to feel guilty about the tears he saw welling up in Abby's eyes. It wasn't his problem.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Gibbs was watching the young detective with interest. After he stormed out of the lab with anger evident in every inch of his body and almost ran Gibbs over, the older man decided it was time to visit Ducky. Not only would the elderly doctor be able to tell them more about the two victims, he also had a very soothing and calming effect on people. He hoped a short stay with Ducky would be enough to calm the kid down after the little episode in the lab. Gibbs didn't know what exactly took place but he could guess it wasn't good. They sure as hell didn't trade jokes as he hoped they would.

He sighed and looked once again at the young detective walking next to him. Under the guise of anger, there was also a different emotion that he couldn't decipher. DiNozzo was a mystery and continued to baffle the older man. He though he had him figured out as soon as he set eyes on him but the kid had been doing nothing else but contradicting his first impression ever since. There was more to DiNozzo than the playboy and self-assured exterior.

He remembered this morning, when he had been waiting in front of Tony's apartment, but they young detective was nowhere to be seen. DiNozzo didn't seem the type to let him wait and so he involuntarily found himself worried. Getting into the kid's apartment was too easy and Gibbs vowed to have a little talk about it later. It wasn't that hard to find the missing detective; he was laying flat on his back and laughing his head off for some reason. Gibbs looked around the room if there was anything funny but there was nothing and it worried him more than he wanted to admit. There was something sad and heartbreaking in the gesture that was supposedly a sign of happiness. He wanted to cross the distance between them and shake the kid so hard he'd stop, but his legs wouldn't move. Finally, when he stopped, tear tracks evident on his face, did Gibbs let out a breath he wasn't even aware of holding.

And as he was walking with the younger man towards Ducky's lab, observing the clenched jaw and hands curled into fists, he couldn't help but think that he preferred this real anger to the pretentious laughter from the morning. And even though he didn't know why or how, he realized that he cared for the kid. As unbelievable as it sounded even to his own ears, after only one day of knowing Tony, Gibbs really did care. Maybe it was because he recognized the loneliness he had been battling for years, reflected in Tony's eyes, or maybe it was because DiNozzo himself was so eager to please Gibbs; it was a welcomed change to the hateful or frightened reactions he normally got. But the why's and how's didn't matter anymore, what mattered was that he would figure DiNozzo out one way or the other, there was something wrong with him and Gibbs would find out. DiNozzo was a good actor, but no play lasted forever. And the ex-marine could and would wait.

To be continued

A/N: Um, thank you for all your kind reviews and story alerts, favorites! Believe it or not, they do make my day :) I want to apologize for how Abby behaved this chapter…but don't worry, it's just that they're at a rocky start. And no, this won't end up as Tony/Abby either; I prefer them as brother/sister actually. The idea to have Abby like Tony that way came from watching the JAG-NCIS episodes, Meltdown and Ice Queen. If you haven't seen it…well, you should, Tony looked very handsome in it :)And if you notice, Abby's a little bit different around Tony than we are used to…she is flirting more and I think I remember something about dinner? Hmm…well, I hope you like the unusual meeting :-) I really do love Abby and she will realize her errors…eventually…you'll have to stay tuned to find out!

I would also like to thank:

Belker for pointing out some of my grammar errors to me and helping this story to be better.

Secretchild for being…well herself I suppose :) for her support

XX-Samantha-XX for being awesome as well!

And every single person who reviewed or sent me a PM :)


	7. The Parents

Chapter 7

When Tony stormed out of her lab, Abby was left staring after his retreating back and felt like the worst person on Earth. She leaned against the table for support and fought the tears threatening to fall. She didn't want to hurt him, it was never her intention. When Gibbs told her about the young detective from Baltimore, Abby decided she had to make him her friend. It was, after all, not every day that Gibbs shared an investigation with someone he liked .And when she finally saw him in her lab, she felt conflicted. He was handsome, very much so, with a mega-watt smile and beautiful green eyes, in short, he was the type you expected to be arrogant and standoffish. She had lots of bad experience with men like that, who thought they were better than everyone else. But she was pleasantly surprised when Tony didn't seem arrogant at all, just cheerful, witty and very charming. So charming that she found herself attracted to him faster than she thought possible. But then he turned her down and old wounds resurfaced with the force of a tornado. She told him hurtful, bad things and…and she was horrible!

She reached for her phone and dialed Ducky's number, he would surely know what to do about the situation and how to make it right.

"Dr. Mallard speaking, how may I help you?" Ducky's kind voice brought even more tears into Abby's eyes and she let out a loud wail. "Ducky!"

"Abigail? Is that you my dear?" She nodded but then remembered he couldn't see her. "Yes."

"Abigail, what happened?" The elderly doctor sounded distressed and Abby felt even worse. Here was Ducky worrying because of her and he didn't even know the terrible thing she had just done.

"Ducky, I am a horrible person!"

"Nonsense, my dear. Whatever brought this on?" Ducky's voice had such a soothing quality that Abby calmed down a fraction and dried her eyes with a Kleenex. "I've misjudged Tony! And hurt his feelings…and what should I do, Ducky? I don't even want him to go out with me anymore; I just don't want him to hate me."

"I doubt the boy hates you! I've met him and he definitely seems like a very fair and forgiving lad. There's no sense in crying over spilt milk, Abby. It is of the utmost importance that you show him that you didn't mean it and I am certain all will be fine. "

Abby smiled slightly. Yes, she could do that, she could show him how sorry she was and then when he'd forgive her, they could start anew and since dating was out of the question, they could become best friends.

"You're certain that'd be enough Duckman?"

"I am certain, my dear. I haven't known that young man for a long time but I can tell that he is in dire need of a good friend and you certainly are qualified to fill in those shoes."

Tony's face with the hurt look on his face flashed before her eyes. She would be the best friend the world had seen so far, Abby decided. If a friend was what he needed right now, she would be one for him, even if it wasn't what she had hoped for, it would have to do.

"Listen Abigail, Jethro and Anthony are already here, I have to go now. Please remember what I've told you and don't beat yourself up over one silly mistake; you'll make it right in the end. "

"Thank you, Ducky!" Abby was feeling more optimistic now. The next time she saw Tony, she'd give him her biggest hug and tell him how terribly sorry she was. She just hoped it would be enough.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Tony managed to get his anger under control before they even entered autopsy and it left him feeling oddly dejected. No matter how much he tried to make a good impression, to be liked, it always went south in the end. He knew it wasn't his fault this time, though, not that it made a difference in the end. He sighed and decided not to dwell on it for now, there was still time left for it afterwards. For now he had his job to do and everything else could wait. Just as they stepped into autopsy, Tony's cell phone went off, the tune of Frank Sinatra's Luck Be a Lady Tonight echoed around the room. The young detective looked at the screen of his phone and almost dropped it in surprise when he noticed his partner's name on it. Daniel Kinsey was calling him, damn. Without thinking of the consequences he cancelled the call and put the phone back in his pocket. He looked up and noticed both Gibbs and Ducky giving him questioning glances.

"Hey, Ducky!" he greeted the ME in hopes of distracting them from the call he refused to answer. Ducky greeted him back but Gibbs wasn't about to let it go so fast.

The older man gave him an assessing look. "Who was that?"

Tony faked a grin."Ex-girlfriend. They just can't get enough of me."

Gibbs looked skeptic but let it go and turned to the elderly doctor. "Do you have anything for us Duck?"

"I've just started the autopsy of Mr. Curiton, I can't tell you much yet."

"But can you tell us anything about the death of Samantha Morgan, before we go and talk to her parents? It would help if we could tell them something about how their daughter died." Gibbs looked towards the bodies on the autopsy tables, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Well, I can tell you that the poor girl was poisoned. There are a couple of possibilities as to the poisoning agent, but we'll know more once Abigail finishes those blood tests. "He moved towards the tables with Gibbs right at his heels. Tony was a little bit more reluctant, no matter how many times he had been a witness to an autopsy; it never seemed to get any easier. But he swallowed his unease, like always, and joined both older men by the body of the young woman.

Ducky took one lifeless hand in his and pointed to the blue-tinted fingernails."As you see here, her fingers are blue, a sure sign of cyanosis. That itself could have been caused by the lack of oxygen by drowning, but I have found evidence indicating otherwise. "He moved the sheet covering the body and exposed the open stomach to them. "The poison caused massive internal bleeding. I was just about to start on the stomach; you are free to stay if you wish?"

Tony made a disgusted face and Ducky chuckled." I see you aren't very enamored with the idea, my boy. Not that I fault you, though. I remember this one time, when as a young lad I've visited the Amazon Rainforest and as we were ma-."

"You've been to the Amazon Jungle? Wow… Hey, have you seen any amazons there?" Tony gave him a playful grin and the elderly ME shook his head with a smile on his face.

"This is a common error, my boy. You see, the tribe of women warriors we know under the name Amazons, in fact is in no relation to the Amazon River or Jungle. The name came most likely from the Iranian language, meaning "warriors" or from Greek, meaning "without breast", which is probably due to the fact that they had their right breast cut off. But the-"

"Ducky, where is Gibbs?" Tony had got so immersed in Ducky's talking that he didn't even notice when the NCIS agent left the room. The ME looked around autopsy to find it indeed absent of the gruff ex-marine.

"Any ideas where he could have gone to?" Tony huffed, feeling as if he had been forgotten, for some reason.

"Don't worry, my boy, Gibbs is never too far away. He'll find you," Ducky replied with a serious face but his eyes were twinkling. Tony didn't think it very funny, though.

"That totally reminded me of the "Do not seek death, death will find you" quote. Not very reassuring."

The ME patted his arm in sympathy."Don't let Jethro hear you comparing him to death, my dear fellow, I still haven't told you everything I knew about the Amazons."

Tony nodded, smiled at the elderly man and ran out of the room."See you later Ducky!"

It wasn't too hard to find Gibbs, just like Ducky predicted; he wasn't very far away from autopsy. The ex-marine was leaning against the wall and having a hushed conversation with someone over the phone. Tony slowed down to give the older man privacy and waited until he finished the call and pocketed the cell phone. The Baltimore detective observed the man in front of him, he didn't seem angry…much. Maybe he didn't even notice he was missing? But then again, Gibbs rarely overlooked anything, so big chance of it happening now.

"That was Abby," Gibbs explained and Tony gulped in a nervous gesture. Now Gibbs would most definitely kill him! Abby must have told him what a bastard he was and how he made her cry…and from what he had seen of the relationship so far, he was a dead man walking. He knew it wasn't his fault that Abby blew up on him, but Gibbs would never take his word over Abby's. He suddenly had a flashback of his childhood. His father had accused him of breaking the window in his study, not believing Tony when he'd sworn he didn't do it. The saddest part was that Tony's father himself had thrown a bottle of whiskey out of the window the day before in a fit of drunken rage. He still remembered how afraid he'd been in that little closet that his father had turned into a prison for him as punishment.

And irrational or not, Tony couldn't help but take a step back from Gibbs, expecting the older man to react like his father had. The ex-marine eyed him with confusion before continuing. "She feels bad about something she'd done to you? Just to give you a little warning, Abby can get a little bit carried away from time to time."

Tony blinked in confusion; this was definitely not what he had been anticipating. Abby felt bad for what she'd told him before? He was bemused, Gibbs wasn't going to kill him in cold blood because he'd upset the forensic scientist? But Gibbs didn't give him a lot of time for deep thinking; he turned around and nodded at Tony to follow him. "Come on, DiNozzo, we still have to interview the parents."

Tony automatically followed, the bewildered expression still on his face.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Tony hated talking to families of victims, especially if they were the parents. Children shouldn't die before their parents; it defied the natural course of life. It was almost physically painful to watch the broken woman, sob for her daughter and ask them "why" over and over again. Her husband was seated next to her, supporting his wife as best as he could, but even he couldn't stop the tears from running down his pale and gaunt features. The interview wasn't going well at all, the Morgans didn't know who would want hurt their daughter, nor were they aware of any boyfriend.

"I am so sorry that we aren't a very big help, agent Gibbs," Mr. Morgan apologized, while rubbing his wife's back in a comforting gesture.

"No, it's alright, you do what you can," Gibbs replied, his voice compassionate. It surprised Tony to hear Gibbs sound so…understanding, as if he knew exactly what they were going through.

"You must understand, we haven't been in contact very much for the last year or so…" There was so much regret in the raspy voice that Tony wanted to cover his ears and just stop listening. But he knew it was important to listen to every little detail provided, it could turn out to be the crucial piece of evidence in the end.

"Why's that?" Gibbs asked, pen poised over his notepad, ready to take notes.

"We've had an argument and sh-"

"She found out Simon, my husband, wasn't her biological father and got angry at us for not telling her sooner. " Mrs. Morgan seemed to have calmed down a bit and answered instead of her husband.

Tony shared a glance with Gibbs. This was unexpected and could potentially get them further in the investigation.

"You weren't her biological father?" Tony asked and Mr. Morgan nodded solemnly.

"I took care of her since she was just a baby! She was my daughter and a couple of stupid genes won't change that!"

There was so much feeling in Mr. Morgan's voice that it took Tony's breath away. Sure, he had seen parents that loved their children before, obviously, but this…was different. The man before him wasn't Samantha's father and he knew it since the beginning, but it didn't change a thing. The parental love was so obvious; one would have to be blind, deaf and stupid not to see it. And Tony, who couldn't even get his own parents to care, was stunned by the realization that for some blood wasn't an issue at all. Tony was caught off guard by the feeling of jealousy coursing through his body. Great, now he was jealous of a murdered girl, Tony thought with disgust.

"I've had a boyfriend before meeting Simon; I got pregnant but he left me before I could tell him…then I've met my husband…and he filled the role of Samantha's father immediately. He is…was a great father." Mrs. Morgan explained, while trying to keep the tears at bay but failing miserably.

"And when Samantha found about her biological father, did she want to find him?" Gibbs looked at the pair sitting in front of him.

Mr. Morgan nodded. "Yes…she was upset that we didn't tell her sooner and thought it was only right for her to know her…real father," he swallowed hard, "and she also thought it wasn't right to keep _him_ from knowing he had a daughter."

"She refused to talk to us since…even though we tried to make it right countless time…" Samantha's mother continued where her husband left off because he needed to gather his composure.

"Could you please tell us the name of her biological father? We need it for the investigation," Tony requested and watched as Mr. Morgan looked away, as if it were painful for him to listen to the name and Mrs. Morgan looked down at her hands.

"His name is Walter…Walter Curiton," she finally whispered and Tony almost fell out of his chair in from the shock of the revelation. He locked gazes with Gibbs and saw his surprise mirrored in the ex-marine's icy blue eyes. This was definitely an unexpected development.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Mrs. Morgan identified the second victim from the crime scene photos as her former lover and father of her daughter, Samantha. And suddenly, the 2 formerly unrelated victims were father and daughter.

"Think the wife of Curiton found out about his illegitimate daughter, went ballistic and killed them both?" Tony asked while they were sitting in Gibbs' car, taking a little "coffee break", as the older man called it.

Gibbs took a sip of his caffeine drink and answered without looking at him. "It's a possibility…but better keep an open mind about it, since we don't have any specific evidence."

Tony nodded and looked hungrily at the Styrofoam cup in Gibbs' hands, he hadn't had coffee in…well, since he couldn't remember when, it was probably a very long time ago. His coffee deprived thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of Gibbs' cell phone. He quickly drew it out of his pocket and carefully pressed the green button."Gibbs."

There was a short pause before Gibbs recognized the person on the other end. "What you've got, Duck?"

Tony stopped paying attention when he heard the ME's name. Gibbs would tell him what Ducky wanted later, for now his gaze was firmly locked on the coffee cup, now standing innocently on the dashboard, where the older man had put it.

One sip couldn't hurt…it was no big deal, it was just coffee, right? And if Gibbs had a problem with it, he could buy him another cup later. He hesitantly reached for the coffee and stole a quick glance at the NCIS agent to make sure he was still absorbed in his discussion with the ME. He took advantage of the fact that Gibbs was looking out of the window and took the hot cup in his hands. He was almost halfway there. Quickly, before Gibbs could catch him, he took a sip…and almost immediately spit it out on the windshield. It was so disgusting, that it almost beat that time at university, when he'd taken a sip of massage oil by accident. He hurriedly opened the door and proceeded to spit out the black poisonous liquid, because really, something so disgusting just couldn't be possibly be coffee. When he was done sputtering, he closed the door behind him, and what do you know, Gibbs wasn't on the phone anymore and was looking at him with both eyebrows raised.

"Uh, hey?" he gave a pathetic little wave for God knows what reason, but the older man didn't even blink.

"You know, you should really give that thing to Abby for analysis. I think they messed up your order and gave you gasoline or something. "Gibbs still didn't react. "Or the second option is that someone's trying to kill you."

"I always drink coffee like that," the ex-marine growled and Tony gave him a disbelieving look.

"Still, you should think of putting a warning sign on, that's one nasty toxic substance."

"Sane people know not to touch my coffee," Gibbs replied and grabbed the cup from Tony's lax hands.

"Because they know it tastes horrible?" Tony offered his guess but the older man just shook his head.

"Because they know I'd kill them," the NCIS agent deadpanned and the Baltimore detective gave a nervous chuckle in response.

"Funny Gibbs. Funny."

The older man lifted one eyebrow in a silent challenge."Wanna try it out, DiNozzo?"

Tony shook his head and smiled anxiously; Gibbs didn't seem to be joking at all, with a dangerous smirk on his face and a dangerous glint in his eyes. The older man had intimidation down to a fine art it seemed and Tony had enough common sense to know when to back off.

"So, what did Ducky want?"

The older man straightened in his seat, wiped the smirk off his face and took a sip of his treasured black coffee.

"Abby's lab results came back and it seems the blood in the Curitons' house belonged to Mrs. Lisa Curiton." Tony took the information in and swore under his breath. Now they had another possible victim…or at least a kidnapping case. This wasn't good at all.

"So, she's probably off the suspect's list," Tony voiced his thoughts and Gibbs nodded in agreement.

"We also have Samantha's blood test; the poison used to kill her was ricin. Ducky confirmed it; the damage to her body is consistent to the consequences of ricin poisoning. He also found an injection mark on her arm, so it was most likely given to her intravenously. "

Tony sighed and leaned against the car seat; the investigation wasn't going anywhere and that worried him, especially now that they knew Mrs. Curiton was somewhere…out there and almost certainly in danger…or even dead.

The young felt a headache coming on. "This doesn't look good."

Gibbs' silence spoke loud enough for him.

To be continued…

So, did you like this chapter? ;)

Thank you soooo much for all the beautiful reviews and alerts and favorite stories etc! I love you all :)

Guys, please, I need your opinion; what do you want to see – should Tony forgive Abby right away and they become best friends or should he make it a little bit difficult for her and let her win him over slowly? Just curious what you'd like to see…

Thanks for reading! And please leave me a review, they so make my day :P

Hugs,

Anjelik


	8. Conversations

8. Chapter

"Ricin poisoning? I didn't know ricin was poisonous." Tony wrinkled his brow in confusion. "I mean, what about castor oil? I thought it also contained ricin?"

Gibbs was just about to tell him to shut up before Ducky could go into one of his endless rants, but it was too late, the elderly MD had beat him to it.

"I'm glad you've asked, my boy, "Ducky exclaimed, his eyes twinkling, "I know quite a lot about this type of poisoning, from my time as a doctor in Oxford. I remember this one young lad who-"

"Duck," Gibbs sighed in exasperation. They still had a murder to solve, not trade stories.

"It seems this story will have to wait for a different time as well, my dear fellow," Ducky gave Gibbs a mildly disapproving look but quickly returned to the matter at hand.

" As I was saying, ricin is a very toxic agent, in fact when compared with other toxins of the same weight it belongs to the top four natural poisons, more toxic than for example cyanide. It is made from a plant called castor in the form of powder, which you cannot see or smell. It can easily be mixed with food or water and nobody would know a difference. This is most probably the case of our young lady here," he motioned at the covered body on the autopsy table.

"Castor oil, on the other hand," Ducky continued, "contains no ricin at all, since the toxic remains in the bean after extracting the oil from it."

Tony shuddered at the thought of castor oil; his nanny had always insisted on feeding him the vile stuff when he'd been a kid and he'd used to run around the house screaming that they were trying to kill him with poison. Good to know it had just been his disgust over the yellowish liquid not the real thing.

"Is it hard to obtain?" Tony asked, hoping it was some very rare substance, with appropriate monitoring; that would make looking for the murderer so much easier.

"Basically everyone could make ricin from castor beans at home, provided they had the right equipment." Ducky shot down his hopes and the young Baltimore detective sighed in frustration. Of course nothing could go easy for them, why should it?

"What about the beans? Are they hard to get?"Gibbs wondered but Ducky shook his head.

"Not at all. The Castor plants are very common, especially in the southern states."

"Wow, how do you know so mu-"Tony abruptly ended his sentence as he saw Gibbs giving him a patented glare. He chuckled nervously. "Guess we'll talk about it some other time. You know, there's still so much to do right now, like finding the murderer, so-"

His ramblings were cut short due to the loud ringing of his cell phone. He quickly drew it out of the pocket, not wanting to disturb the silence of the room; it was autopsy after all. And he also had his suspicion as to who was calling him, even though he hoped from the bottom of his heart that he was wrong. No such luck, he thought, when looking at the screen of his cell phone. Kinsey was calling him and he had a feeling it wasn't just to say hi and exchange pleasantries.

He swallowed hard and let the phone ring for a while, conscious of the curious look Gibbs and Ducky were sending him, even though the ex-marine was more subtle in his interest.

He knew he had to answer it, sooner better than later; it was never good to let such things fester. But he was truly frightened of the reaction he'd get from his partner. Not to mention he just couldn't let the two other men in the room see his weaknesses. He had already spent too much time and effort to seem confident and strong in front of them, to spoil it now.

"Sorry, I have to take this call. Very important stuff." Tony smiled his most charming smile and quickly headed out of the room to get some privacy, before he could be stopped by either the NCIS agent or the ME. He vaguely heard Gibbs yelling at him something about giving him one minute.

He rounded the corner and the phone was still ringing in his hands, reminding him of the furious man on the other end of the line. Taking a deep breath, he tried to gather as much courage as he could and answered the phone with a cheerful, "Hello, you've reached detective Anthony DiNozzo. How may I help you this fine day?"

"DiNozzo," the voice of his partner growled and Tony briefly closed his to calm down his fraying nerves.

"Hey, Daniel," Tony greeted, his voice strong despite the dread he was feeling.

"Don't you "hey" me, you little bastard," Kinsey interrupted, "you've hung up one me." His voice was loud and furious, just like he had expected.

"Sorry man, I was in the middle of something important. I couldn't answer you," Tony apologized but it didn't seem to do much good, judging by the snarl he got in return.

"Something important!?" Daniel hissed. "What's so important? The fucking case?!"

"Yeah, "came the younger man's silent reply; this didn't look good for him. He felt as if he was 10 again, waiting in his father's study for the dressing down that was sure to come. This time he at least he had the advantage of getting it over the phone. Kinsey couldn't do anything to him over the phone.

"Huh," Daniel snarled, "I see little Tony-boy is going for a promotion. See yourself as a special agent?"

Tony stood gaping at the words coming from his partner's mouth. He knew Daniel never really cared for what happened to him, never showed him any kind of compassion or friendship, but this? Tony had at least hoped he'd known him…somewhat. Weren't the countless times he had covered Kinsey's ass for him proof enough? Or how he'd solved all the cases with basically no help from his partner and yet everybody though how good of a detective the older man was, just because Tony had never revealed the truth. Wasn't that enough for him?

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked."I'm not working on this case to get hired by the feds! I just want to solve the murders." He whispered the last sentence, the image of Samantha's blank and lifeless look in front of his eyes as if he was still standing over her dead body at the harbor.

"Tell that to your mother, you little bastard," Kinsey barked and Tony was tempted to reply that his mother was long dead, but decided against it; no sense in provoking the older man any further. He still had to work with him afterwards. Although, it really was time for a change.

"I didn't ask for Gibbs to kick you out of the investigation," Tony defended himself against the accusations but it all fell on deaf ears; Daniel was not listening at all. "I still have a lot of friends in the department, boy. You think they like you? Well, I've been drinking beer with them before you even knew how to hold a gun! Nobody would even bat an eye if you'd get a broken arm or two. Remember that well, Tony-boy."

Tony almost dropped the phone in shock. No matter how bad Daniel treated him or how angry he was, the younger man just couldn't believe he was threatening him. With bodily harm. He just couldn't believe it. There had to be alcohol in play. There just had to be. But no matter how much he tried to convince himself otherwise, Daniel's voice wasn't slurred at all; he wasn't that drunk and he meant each and every word he had said. What was it about him that with time everybody wanted to get rid of him?

"Wha-what? Daniel," Tony wanted to say something, he really did, but the words got stuck in his throat and nothing else came out. Kinsey on the other end laughed derisively."I meant it Tony-boy. Either you get me on the investigation or you'll see how much I meant it." He wanted to reply; he wanted to say something extremely witty and casual, to make Daniel see he wasn't afraid. He couldn't. There were too many similarities to his father in Kinsey and it rendered speechless. Regardless of how much Tony wanted to think that he was stronger and tougher than he when he had been a child, at times like these, he was left a scared and insecure child. And it depressed him to no end.

"Tony?" He looked up at the sudden interruption and found himself looking at an uncertain and shy looking Abby. He felt so tired of it all; tired of being used as everybody's favorite stress ball; tired of letting them do so and being so goddamn weak!

He leaned against the wall and slid down onto the cold floor. It was all just too much. Closing his eyes he tried taking deep breaths in order to calm down; no need to get a panic attack in front of the forensic scientist. Abby sat down on the floor next to him and took his lax right hand into hers.

"Wanna talk about it?"

He jerked his hand out of her grasp; he was not ready for human contact yet…and he still remembered the morning fight they had in her lab. Abby didn't seem angry that he refused her comfort, though. More like guilty, and Tony felt like a bastard. Despite knowing she had caused the fight, it didn't feel right to keep hurting her like this because of it.

"Sorry," he murmured, not knowing exactly what he was apologizing for. Refusing her comfort? Being angry at her? Not wanting to talk? He was too confused to know.

"Hey," she smiled at him, "nothing to be sorry for." The smile faded from her face and she suddenly looked unsure of herself. He decided to help her.

"You don't have to apologize, you know." Abby was so easy to read, she was practically an open book and it was evident she felt bad for what had happened between them.

"But Tony!" she exclaimed, anger lacing her tone and Tony wondered what he had done wrong this time. "You should totally feel angry and annoyed with me!" The Baltimore detective blinked once, twice before blurting out a surprised, "What?"

She frowned at his confusion."Nobody ever taught you that it was important to be angry when…well, when you should be?"

"I thought you didn't want me to be angry at you. That's what apologies are for, right?" This whole thing was getting weirder by the second. Tony rubbed the back of his head, trying to understand the inner workings of Abby, but it was impossible. And frankly, it was giving him a headache.

"Yes and no." she responded looking put out by not knowing how to explain it further. "It's like this, Tony; I hurt you, I know I did 'because I saw it in your eyes, mister." Abby waggled her finger at him and he almost smiled at her. Almost.

"And it's normal to feel angry when hurt, you know. It's right, it means we value ourselves and won't let anyone abuse us. Understand?" He did although he didn't know where she saw going with this and why. But he nodded all the same.

"Were you angry Tony?" He didn't know what to respond to _that._ Wouldn't he upset her when he'd reply with a yes? Would she even want to have anything to do with him? Did he even have a right to be angry? He never really was good with the appropriate reaction thing.

Seeing his dilemma, Abby decided for him. "Ok, I see you're still unwilling to admit it, so that means we only have one choice left." His bewildered eyes met hers.

"Why, Abby to the rescue! And everything Abby says is completely and absolutely true, without debate. Is that clear?"

Without actually waiting for him to agree or disagree, she continued, "And you were angry. Repeat after me,' I was angry.'"

Abby was really an odd one, Tony decided then and there but he repeated after her in spite of it all.

"I was angry." Upon seeing Abby's approving smile he couldn't help but crack a grin as well. It wasn't every day that you had a conversation like this…if you could even call it a conversation. It was changing into "monkey see, monkey do" rather rapidly.

"Excelent! Now, repeat, 'you'll have to make it up to me, Abby.'"

He didn't really think she had to make anything up to him, but when seeing the mock glare she sent him, he caved in.

"You'll have to make it up to me, Abby."

"Then I'll forgive you."

"Then I'll forgive you," he dutifully repeated, but in reality he had already forgiven. But if it made her feel better who was he to berate her for it?

"And then I'll let you give me lots of hugs."

"And then I'll let you gi-Hey! What has that to do with anything?" he demanded, smiling slightly.

"That was just to make me feel better. I have to get you used to my hugs, after all! That's a necessity in the Abby-friendship." She smiled, stood up and gave him a wink.

"He's all yours bossman!" She happily waved at Gibbs who was standing a few feet away from them and Tony almost had a heart attack then and there. How long had the ex-marine been there? Did he hear what they had been talking about? Was he angry? Tony cringed at his own stupidity. Showing his emotion at such a public place was bound to be witnessed by somebody. Especially when that somebody was Gibbs who hardly overlooked or overheard anything. He was screwed.

"I'll be coming over later, bearing pie." She announced cheerfully before bouncing out of his view.

_Pie? _That was new_._

That left just him and Gibbs, who was stubbornly silent and looking at him with a peculiar expression on his face. The silence was uncomfortable in Tony's opinion; he had to say something, but what? He searched for any conversation starter but came up with a blank. So he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"Does Abby make good pie?"

He almost wanted to slap himself; what a way to break the silence.

Gibbs raised his eyebrows and Tony thought he might have seen a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. But that was probably just a delusion. "I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole."

Tony grinned at Gibbs' response. Maybe the older man wasn't angry like he thought? He was joking after all.

"That bad?" He grimaced; just his luck that Abby decided to make him feel better by baking him something inedible. She could have just gone with pizza.

"What you're thinking and even worse. The filling is black, don't ask how, and it tastes like something you'd find on the sole of your shoes." He suddenly narrowed his eyes. "You say one word about this to Abby and you'll have no time to be sorry, got that?"

"Gotcha," Tony replied cheerfully, standing from the uncomfortable position on the ground and stretching his aching muscles. He should remember never to sit on the ground, it gets pretty painful.

"We've just got a hit on the BOLO. We need to get there as soon as possible."

"Mrs. Curiton's car?" By the look on Gibbs' face and the sound of his face, it wasn't very good news.

"She's dead," Tony guessed and got a solemn nod in reply. And they were once again right at the beginning of the case. Of course, with the additional victim, can't forget that. He wanted to hit something, but decided against it. With his luck they'd charge him the expenses for a smashed wall.

Gibbs made his way around Tony and clearly expected the younger man to follow him. The Baltimore detective sighed and did as was expected from him. He caught up with Gibbs and they walked for a moment in silence until Tony realized something.

"Hey! I've put the BOLO on the car; I am the local detective around here! How come they're always calling you?"

Gibbs just smirked and continued on his way to the car.

"Not fair, Gibbs! How did you do it?"

"Barked at the right people, DiNozzo. You should try it sometimes."

Tony couldn't help but feel that there was a hidden message in that sentence, but decided not to dwell on it any further. There was time for feelings, secret meanings, black pies and threatening partners later. Right now they still had a murder to catch. And no personal demons could get in the way.

"You know, this reminds me of this one episode of Magnum P.I…."

To Be Continued

Liked it? Hated it? Let me know…I also would like to hear your opinion, what would you like to see in this story? I have my ideas but if there is something specific you'd like to see…well, I could incorporate it :) What do you say?

I also want to thank each and every person who reviewed, faved this story or put it on alert. You make me a very happy writer. Thank you!!!!!

Hugs, kisses and virtual cookies for all! :)


	9. Mistakes

9. Chapter

The ride to the crime scene was silent and it frustrated Tony to no end. He tried thinking of something witty and funny to say but his mind seemed to have shut down and came up with a blank. Daniel's threats were a constant echo in his head, making his gut churn and heart beat faster. It wasn't that he was afraid of taking a punch or two; it never had been a problem before. Words hurt far more than any bruises or broken bones ever could. He was a wimp, Tony decided, who ever heard of a detective afraid of not being liked?

The problem was, he reasoned, that he already had no people caring for him whatsoever and a great deal of people hating his guts; was a stupid case and respect of a man he had known for just for a couple of days, worth the hate of his partner, the last person who acknowledged his very existence? Who would maybe come to his funeral if it came to that? But it wasn't just a stupid case, was it? A young girl, her father and his wife had been murdered, leaving a family in shambles behind. Didn't they deserve justice?

And Gibbs wasn't just any man, was he? For some inexplicable reason, the ex-marine trusted him, wanted to work with him on the case, wanted his input and had even shown him concern at one point. He didn't want to lose that.

It was a matter of priorities; what do you choose, a moment of freedom or a lifetime of imprisoned constancy? Regardless of the outcome of this case, Gibbs and Abby would leave in the end, leaving him alone to suffer the consequences. Was it worth it?

He glanced at Gibbs from the corner of his eye and noticed the questioning look the other man was giving him. He quickly looked away and pretended not to have looked at the other man at all. Not that it worked; the NCIS special agent seemed to have eyes and ears everywhere.

"Something bothering you?"

Tony took in a long and shuddering breath. It was now or never.

"Yes," he responded and frowned slightly; how was he supposed to breach that subject?

"Care to elaborate?"Gibbs prompted.

"I think you should let my partner back on the case," Tony blurted out, deciding on the straightforward approach. It was like ripping off a plaster, painful but short.

He looked down at his feet, not ready for the anger and disgust that was bound to be etched on Gibbs' face. The older man didn't answer right away, but Tony felt the car accelerate slightly and it was enough for the Baltimore detective to realize Gibbs wasn't happy with his suggestion. Was he planning on killing him in a freak accident on the highway? Damn, he should have waited until the crime scene…or afterwards.

The angry "no" brought him back to reality and Tony flinched at the fury in the ex-marine's voice.

"I won't have any drunken bastard playing detective on my time," Gibbs growled.

"But…" Tony started but was immediately cut off by the sharp glare sent his way. He involuntarily gulped; Gibbs looked livid.

"Do I look stupid to you, DiNozzo?" The glower on his face demanded an answer.

"No, of course you don't. In fact, you look like the personification of cleverness, especially when-"He paused upon seeing the look on Gibbs' face, "but you don't care about that, right."

"He called you?" The older man's tone seemed indifferent, but Tony could sense the interest underneath the pretense. Interest and something else, but what?

He nodded faintly and looked out of the window to avoid seeing the disappointment all over the ex-marine's face.

"You'd do better not to take his calls." Came the dry reply and Tony turned around to face the other man. Gibbs was fully concentrated on the road ahead, which was a wise thing to do, considering the way he drove. But it was the little things, like how hard he clutched the steering wheel, or the taut lines of his jaw, that gave his anger away. Tony almost cringed, the older man emanated so much frustration that it was almost painful to watch.

"Uh, you know, he is my partner," he began uncertainly, "I can't just plain ignore him." There would be hell to pay, Tony added silently in his head.

"Then you should get yourself a new partner," Gibbs retorted unperturbed. It all sounded so simple, coming from the ex-marine.

"It doesn't work like that, Gibbs," Tony sighed, "I can't just say I don't like my partner and demand a new one. This isn't a convenience store."

Gibbs snorted at that, an amused expression on his face. "I'd be worried if it was." He took a turn to the left. "But in this field of work, every situation could turn out to be a matter of life and death. You should be able to trust your partner with your life. Can you truly say about Kinsey?"

Tony hung his head. There was no way in hell he could trust Daniel with his life, with all the drinking on the job the older man did; he'd end up dead in a matter of days. But could he tell that to Gibbs? Would the ex-marine understand his irrational fear of Daniel Kinsey? Would he know how it felt to be all alone in the world? To have no one constant in his life, but one drunken partner who in all probability cursed his very existence at the moment.

"Do you trust all the people you work with?" Tony answered with a question, hoping the older man would leave it at that, because truthfully, he had no idea how to respond to the question.

Gibbs turned to look at him, and Tony was tempted to remind the older man not to take his eyes of the road, as they swerved out of way of a speeding car. The NCIS agent looked him steadily in the eyes."Yes, with my life."

Was Gibbs trying to tell him that he trusted him? Tony blinked in surprise a couple of times before smiling cheekily at the man next to him. "Was that before or after you ended up as a one-man team?"

Gibbs glowered at him. "Want to know how exactly I ended up without a team?" He gave him a feral grin that wiped the smirk off Tony's face.

"Ah, not really, I like to be in one piece, thank you."

"Good choice," Gibbs nodded and Tony let out the breath he had been holding. Thankfully Gibbs seemed to have forgotten all about his original question if he trusted Daniel. He still wasn't ready to admit he was terrified of the older man to Gibbs. He wouldn't understand, of that he was sure.

* * *

They found Mrs. Curiton sitting in her car, hands grasping the steering wheel and if it weren't for the unseeing look in her eyes and the blood trickling from a gunshot wound to the temple, it would seem as if she was just sleeping. Tony crouched down next to the car and took a couple of photos of the victim, her wound and the interior of the car. The gun hadn't been found, but that was to be expected; it would be too easy and things were never easy in the life of Anthony DiNozzo.

He looked around, searching for Gibbs with his eyes and found him in a heated discussion with a local policeman, who had found the body. The ex-marine's eyes were flashing red from anger and his hands looked ready to throttle the man in front of him. Tony grinned and decided it would be smart to join the two arguing men before another murder took place. He sauntered towards the pair just in time to hear Gibbs growl, "Of all the stupidest things to do!"

The policeman huffed, "Hey, there wasn't anything I could have done!"

Gibbs just took a step towards the other man when Tony inconspicuously made his way between them.

"So, what is happening here?"

The older man glared at him. "Why don't you ask this idiot here?"

"Hey!" The policeman exclaimed. "Who are you calling an idiot?!It was a reflex!"

"A damn stupid reflex if you ask me," Gibbs snarled and Tony scratched the back of his head, not understanding what was happening. He thought about what he was missing but nothing came to mind.

"What reflex?"

The policeman suddenly produced an evidence bag from his pocket and shoved it right in Tony's face. The young Baltimore detective gingerly took it in his hands. "Is this the murder weapon?" His face showed surprise; it wasn't very often that the murderer left the gun at the crime scene. In fact, it was almost downright stupid…or very smart, depending on the circumstances and why it was left behind.

"Yeah, the murder weapon, found right next to the body."

"So," Tony uncertainly began,"you took it from the car and put it in the evidence bag. You did take photos before doing so, right?"

He looked from the angry scowl on Gibbs' face to the embarrassment written all over the policeman's face, who was refusing to meet his gaze.

"Ok, so you didn't. But that shouldn't be such a proble-"

"It wouldn't if he had used gloves," Gibbs cut in.

"You used you bare hands?" Tony asked in disbelief. Ok, he had been green a long time ago, but this was ridiculous; even kids watching crime show knew not to touch anything from the scene without gloves.

"It was a reflex…I-uh, I have never seen a murdered person before and…well, guess I panicked."

"How exactly did you find the body?"

"I was in my car, driving around the area, you know, and then I noticed this car standing on the side of the highway. I wanted to check it out in case it was just a bunch of teenagers looking for some fun in the car, if you know what I mean. But I've found t-this instead. I grabbed the weapon and then called for reinforcement. Then you guys came." Tony nodded, thanked the policeman for his testimony and sent dismissed him before Gibbs could get his hands on him.

"You know, losing your cool can't be good for your blood pressure. A man in your age should be more careful. Not that I think you're old or anything, just a couple of years past the prime." He noticed the older man sending him a murderous glare. "Did I say past the prime? What I actually meant was quite the opposite; you are in your prime right now! Sorry, I sometimes confuse word meanings."

He gave Gibbs a nervous chuckle and the ex-marine just rolled his eyes, which was exactly what Tony wanted; to calm down the special agent so they could go back to solving the case, not ripping off heads. He glanced at the car and the dead woman who was now being loaded into the coroner's van under Ducky's supervision.

"You think it was a suicide? It would be pretty logical," Tony furrowed his brow, "it's actually too logical." He missed the slight grin on Gibbs' face upon hearing the younger man's doubts.

"I mean, it happens all the time, wife finds out that her husband has a daughter with another woman, goes postal and kills both husband and the girl. Then she realizes what she had done and kills herself with a shot to the head."

"That seems like pretty much an open-and-shut case," Gibbs agreed but didn't say anything further, waiting for Tony to express his opinion.

"But why did she drive around and decide to kill herself here? In the middle of nowhere? I noticed there were a couple of bruises on her wrists, maybe when she struggled to kill her husband? But he had no defense marks…and what about the position she was found in? Grasping the steering wheel with both hands!" Tony's eyes went wide as he only realized the fact then. "How could she have shot herself with a gun with both her hands occupied?"

"Someone's trying to let us think it was a suicide," Gibbs summarized, clasping the younger man's shoulder."Good thinking, DiNozzo."

Tony smiled a true smile, delighted to have earned the praise from the strict special agent and believing that he had truly deserved it this time. It was a great feeling.

"Thanks," he shyly replied but Gibbs just shook his head.

"I only give praise where it is due, DiNozzo, just like I do with criticism. You screw up and you'll be the first to know."

Tony sighed and turned around to prevent Gibbs from seeing the hurt written all over his face. "Jeez, I get one word of praise and you have to ruin it with the screwing up part. Great to know you have such high expectations of me."

The older man narrowed his eyes and positioned himself in front of the young detective, forcing him to meet his gaze. He put a hand on Tony's shoulder and squeezed gently in such a compassionate manner that the Italian's eyes misted slightly. He blinked a couple of times to get rid of the pesky tears and forced himself to meet the blue eyes of Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Hey DiNozzo, are you listening?" The ex-marine shook him slightly and Tony nodded.

"I asked, are you listening?" He repeated, voice softening slightly at bewildered look on the younger man's face.

"Yes, I am listening," Tony replied silently, cursing himself for showing so much weakness. What was next? A mental breakdown because of a paper cut? This was getting ridiculous and unbearable.

"Everyone screws up," he started and Tony already wanted to stop him. Was this supposed to be a pep-talk? You know, Anthony, everyone's a screw up; you might as well be one as well?

"Everyone screws up," Gibbs repeated, pausing slightly for a dramatic effect, "it's normal, _human_. It's the learning from your mistakes that makes the difference. Remember that. "And then the older man just looked at him. And not for just a second; it was a full blown staring match that seemed to last forever in Tony's opinion. After that he turned around and left a gaping DiNozzo in his wake.

* * *

Tony sagged against the wall of his flat, totally spent and confused. The day turned out a lot different than he anticipated. Not that he ever could anticipate any good. Gibbs drove him home after a quick visit to the morgue. Ducky couldn't tell them anything new yet, just that the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the right temple. It was all old news to them but Ducky couldn't tell them more yet.

He straightened up and slowly walked into his kitchen in search for something edible, but found nothing except for a box of cereal. He took out a bowl, filled it with the cereal and poured milk over it. Walking towards his living room couch, he plopped down on it and closed his tired eyes. He hadn't had a good sleep in…well, in a very long time, that's for sure. But he knew that no matter how much exhausted he was, sleep was not an option for him tonight. There were too many thoughts racing around in his head; too many issues creating havoc and keeping the sleep at bay.

Then he remembered Abby and groaned. "Damn," he murmured. She said she'd come over in the evening, which meant he would be forced to entertain her and pretend everything was fine in Tony-land. But then he recalled how nice she had been to him and how easy and natural it was to talk to her and how she had made him smile. That was always a plus in his book. And she'd bring her pie. He shuddered at the thought, but all in all, it didn't seem like such a bad deal, having Abby over. At least he wouldn't be so alone this time.

His musings were interrupted by a loud knock at his door. His first thought was that it was Abby, but then he realized that the black haired Goth would hardly pound at his door with such viciousness.

"DiNozzo!" The unmistakable voice of his partner, Daniel, came from behind the closed door and Tony froze. Guess he couldn't and wouldn't be able to hide from the problem anymore. He hesitated, unsure as to what he should do. The possibility of calling Gibbs came to mind right away but he quickly dismissed the notion; a little compliment didn't mean he was suddenly the responsibility of the ex-marine. Plus, it seemed ridiculous to call the special agent just because he was afraid of the man knocking against his door. He wasn't a kid anymore.

The persistent beating against his door continued and Tony thought about not opening at all and hoping he would leave on his own, eventually. But then he remembered the cheerful forensic scientist that was bound to come knocking at his door sooner than later and the thought of her meeting his drunken partner scared him more than what the older man could do to him.

Taking a few calming breaths he went to open the door, the gun in his hand, just in case. Not that it did any good, because the first thing that greeted Tony when he opened the door was a nasty punch to the face that knocked the wind out of him, and the gun went flying across the room.

Hand grabbed him from behind and Tony realized Daniel didn't come alone and there were two other men in his living room. The second punch made him see stars and the hands holding him upright from behind pushed him towards the floor. A couple of vicious kicks to his ribs later and Tony was finding it harder and harder to breathe with each blow. He tried protecting his face with his hands but it only served to aggravate them more. As did his attempts to curl up in a tight ball; nothing could protect him from the onslaught. He was gasping and panting for breath when they finally stopped.

Daniel leaned over him and chuckled."Did you learn your lesson, Tony-boy? Nobody betrays me."

Tony curled up into a tight ball and tried ignoring the taunting voice of his partner, who didn't appreciate being ignored and grabbed him by the collar of his black shirt.

"You don't get to ignore me, Tony," he mockingly reminded the half-unconscious man." So, what about the investigation? You asked about me?"

And Tony couldn't help it; he laughed. Maybe it was the pain that was making him dizzy and lightheaded, maybe it was the bitterness over being somebody's personal punching bag once again or the realization that it couldn't get much worse than this, but Tony didn't care anymore. Consequences be damned.

"Huh," He smirked, blood dripping down his chin, "you think Gibbs needs a drunk like you to solve the case?" Laughing was a lot harder than it should have been, but he didn't let that little problem stop him. "Dream on, Daniel."

And the sensation of something hard hitting his face was the last thing he felt before everything went black.

To be continued

Thank you so much for all your wonderful reviews, favorites and alerts! I love you all and I'm hugging you all in my mind! :)

Sorry for the delay but school got in the way…ouch ;)

Sorry for any mistakes that I may have missed when writing since I had very little time to go over it again…sorry :(

Any suggestions on what you'd like to see in this story??? I am open to suggestions…just no slash or Tony/Abby relationship…


	10. Pain

10. Chapter

Abby was in a good mood. Tony seemed to have forgiven her and that was enough to add spring to her step and plaster a wide, beaming smile on her face. She twirled around, ignoring the curious looks people were giving her, as she made her way to Tony's apartment. Frowning, she realized that she had no idea where she was or which way to go next. Abby searched for the little piece of paper Gibbs had given her, with Tony's address, but was having no luck. Where had she put it?

"Aha!" Abby exclaimed, causing a couple of heads to turn her way, but she paid them no attention. Her boots! That's where she put it!

She sat down, right on the sidewalk, took off her platform boot, turned it upside down and shook it.

"I really should get a purse," she murmured to herself, grabbed the small paper that had fallen out of the black shoe and put it back on. Standing up she studied the address Gibbs had given her. Asking a couple of people for directions, she soon found herself standing in front of Tony's apartment building with a silly grin on her face.

Abby couldn't wait to see the young detective's face when he tasted her super delicious "Happiness-pie" she had made especially for him. Gibbs' expression when he had tasted it first had been priceless alright.

She wanted to do a little cartwheel right there on the street, but decided against it; what if she got dirty? This wasn't her squeaky clean lab, after all.

Abby slowly made her way towards Tony's apartment, her mind brewing with ideas of what she could do to bring a smile to the young detective's face; he had a nice smile, too. And he looked so depressed when she had seen him before. Depressed and totally not aware of his own worth! She was determined to show him how wrong he was and earn his trust. Abby just knew they could hit it off perfectly fine when given a second chance.

The Goth suddenly found herself in front of Tony's apartment. She smiled brightly and knocked energetically on his door, only to have it open on its own. She frowned.

"Tony?!" her yell got no response in return. Abby was now officially worried. She knew Gibbs would probably kill her for this, but she had no other choice but to go in. What if something was seriously wrong? She clutched at her pepper spray and cautiously entered the silent apartment, calling Tony's name. Still no answer.

As she walked through the hall into the living room, she couldn't help but notice how empty,_ hollow_ the apartment seemed, with no pictures, no personal belongings; it almost appeared as if no one lived there and it saddened Abby to think this was what Tony called home. She put the pie on the table and wondered if Tony left on his own. Perhaps he didn't want to have anything to do with her but was afraid to tell her?

She sat down on his sofa and stared dejectedly into thin air. Now what? She sighed and looked down towards the floor only to jump up with a yelp a second later. There was a bloody trail on the worn out carpet. Abby swallowed hard, her breathing twice as fast as normal. The trail started at the door with a puddle at the door and continued through his living room. Good thing she wasn't an investigator, she'd probably overlook every piece of evidence, including the body. Not that she wanted to find a body in here. And now she was rambling in her mind, great. She followed the trail through the bedroom to the bathroom, where she found him. Tony. Curled into a tight ball, passed out and bleeding from seemingly anywhere.

"Tony," she whispered and quickly joined him on the cold, tiled floor, wanting to help but afraid to even touch him. Tears filled his eyes, but she quickly wiped them away; there was no time for that. With trembling hands she touched the side of his neck and breathed a sigh of relief when she felt the slightly erratic pulse under her fingers. She took out her cell phone and dialed the only person she could think of that could make everything right again.

"Gibbs!" came from the other end of the line and just hearing the gruff voice of her favorite bossman calmed her down. He would make everything better.

"Gibbs, you have to come to Tony's apartment right now," she pleaded, "please! At first I thought it was hinky when the door opened on its own, but then I thought he left, you know, because he was still mad at me. Not that I would blame him. I was really m-"

"Abbs," Gibbs cut in,"You're rambling. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened."

She took his advice and took a deep breath."You have to come to Tony's apartment, I've found him bleeding in his bathroom, covered in bruises and I don't know what to do! Should I call the ambulance?"

"N-no…" The choked word surprised Abby so much that she almost dropped her phone. Tony was attempting to smile at her, but it looked rather gruesome with his lips and teeth covered in blood. She gently touched his cheek and tried to clean up the mess, but it was futile.

"No hospital, please," he repeated and Abby bit her lip in indecision. But the croaked please managed to convince her in the end.

"Gibbs?" She pressed the phone to her ear."Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way right now with Ducky."

Abby grinned."You a mind reader now, bossman?"

"No, he's just too predictable sometimes."

"Or he's just too much like you in this aspect," she countered, stealing a glance at Tony to see if he was keeping a track of their conversation. He was too concentrated on breathing regularly to notice they were talking about him.

Gibbs didn't reply right away but she could hear Ducky's indignant "Jethro, do slow down, _please_," in the background. She could imagine it wasn't much fun to be in the car with them right now.

"Hey, Gibbs. Taking another one of your famous shortcuts?"

"There's not enough opportunities for that in this damn city," Gibbs growled, accompanied by a screech of tires and a yelp from the elderly ME.

"You should have got that jet I've told you about," Abby looked back at Tony to see him staring back at her, eyes black and swollen.

"Jet?" He asked with a slight smile. "Great idea for a driver like Gibbs, less traffic up there."

"Tell him I heard that," came Gibbs' dry reply and Abby giggled at the easy banter between the Baltimore detective and the NCIS agent.

"He heard you," she repeated to Tony, who just rolled his eyes.

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes Abbs," the older man announced and she could hear Ducky tell him to drive with both hands like every sensible person.

"See you in a while, Gibbs."

"Yeah." And he hung up. She really should teach him about phone etiquette; that was not nice. Putting her cell back into her pocket, she leaned against the wall next to Tony.

"You want to move to the bed or something? It's not very comfortable on the floor."

"You're very straightforward, you know that?" He smiled at her cheekily.

"That's not fair! I can't even punch you in the shoulder for that comment, like I'd normally do! "She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Sorry," he replied and looked through the bathroom door to the bedroom as if measuring the distance to the bed. He looked so unsure that Abby almost hugged him right then and there. But she refrained from doing so, remembering how he had reacted the last time she had tried that. Not to mention her hug could potentially make his injuries even worse. It was not fair! Her hugs were supposed to be soothing and give him joy, not hurt him.

"You know, there's no shame in asking for help," she scooted closer to him and put her arm around his waist. "Ready when you are."

Tony nodded and carefully, with Abby's assistance, stood up. The walk to the bed was harder than either of them thought it would be. Tony kept wincing and gasping with every step and Abby insisted they stop each and every time he did so. When they finally reached their destination, he fell down on top of the covers with a sigh. Abby looked at him for a moment before joining him on the bed and sitting next to his sprawled form.

"That went well," he muttered and buried his face deep into the pillow. The forensic scientist hesitantly touched his hand, wanting to offer comfort but not knowing how exactly. She didn't know him that well yet.

"So," she began, uncertainty creeping into her voice, "you wanna tell me what happened?"

He raised his head a fraction, just enough for her to see one swollen green eye look at her, before he let it fall back down once again.

"Nothing," he simply replied but Abby wasn't buying into his blasé act.

"Tony, I may not be a detective like you," she huffed," but I'm not stupid. Want to try it again?"

"You've been taking intimidation lessons from Gibbs?"

"Tony!" She leaned forward and grabbed his ear, pulling hard. She figured his ear couldn't make his injuries worse and she _really_ was frustrated with him at the moment.

"Ouch," he yelped and gave her a mock glare, but she paid him no heed; she needed to know the truth, not this crap he was giving her. Didn't he know she just wanted to help him?

"Ok," he sighed. "I've had a rather rough run-in with the stairs. And as you can see, I've lost."

She reached for his ear again, but he rolled away before she could grab it. Of all the silly excuses…

"You're lying! You don't even have stairs in your apartment!"

"Um, well…it didn't happen here?"

"Cut the crap, DiNozzo," Gibbs' no nonsense tone caught both of their attention. Abby whirled around sighing in relief when she saw the older man standing in the doorway with a scowl on his face. Abby quickly jumped off the bed and ran towards Gibbs, enveloping him in a tight hug, needing to have Gibbs take control of the situation; she was at her wit's end with the stubborn detective.

"Could you please move out of the way, Jethro? I do believe I came her for a reason." Gibbs quickly moved to the side and let the older man into the room. Ducky took one look at his patient and shook his head at the side. Abby couldn't really fault him for that; Tony looked as if a horde of elephants decided to make him their trampoline.

"What happened to you, my dear fellow? These are some spectacular bruises you have here," Ducky asked and sat down on the bed next to Tony, who tried to sit up but was finding it a bit difficult due to his injuries. He was so silly, Abby thought, trying to act brave all the time; didn't he know he could be himself with them?

"Nothing much, Ducky," Tony replied, finally managing to sit up with Ducky's help.

"Let me be a judge of that." The elderly MD opened his medical bag and began rummaging through it in search for the right medical tools.

"I would appreciate if you gave my patient bit privacy," Ducky dismissed both Abby and Gibbs without even looking at them. Abby wanted to protest but one look from the special agent standing next to her was enough to silence her.

Gibbs gave a curt nod, even if Ducky couldn't see it, sitting with his back to them and all. "I'll be waiting for your report, Duck."

"Certainly, Jethro," the medical examiner answered but frowned when he took in the scowling face of his patient.

"What is it, Anthony?"

"I'm sulking," he replied, crossing both arms over his chest and Abby could have sworn she saw _both _Ducky and _Gibbs_ crack an amused smile at the indignation in the younger man's voice.

"And why is that, my boy?"

"Cause you're talking about me as if I wasn't even here," he retorted, "or as if I was one of your bodies, Ducky."

Suddenly Tony's eyes widened at the realization and he pointed an accusing finger at the MD in front of him. "You treat dead people!"

Ducky gave him a tolerant smile. "Why, I do. I think we've already established that on our first meeting."

Tony opened his mouth only to promptly close it a second later, no words coming to mind.

"Suck it up, DiNozzo; it's either that or the hospital." Gibbs announced and the Baltimore detective gave him a betrayed look.

"Now, Jethro, you make it sound as if I was just the slightly better alternative to something horrendous." Ducky admonished and turned back to the younger man in front of him. "I'll let you know, my dear boy, I used to treat living patients before you were even a mere twinkle in your father's eye."

Abby was suddenly turned around and gently pushed out of the room by Gibbs. The last thing she heard before the door closed behind them was Ducky's, "Off with the shirt, Anthony," and Tony's, "You tell this to all your patients or is it just me?"

Abby smiled, Ducky had it under control.

* * *

Ducky was concerned. The young man in front of him had most certain received quite the beating; the dark bruises covering most of his body and the cracked ribs were evidence enough. But that was not what concerned the MD the most. It was the sadness and despair in the boy's eyes that worried him the most. From what he had found out about Tony so far, the young man seemed like a cheerful fellow; joking and content in his own skin. But Ducky had enough life experience to know that not all was as it seemed at first glance. And he was starting to realize that maybe Anthony DiNozzo was better in pretending than your average person.

"You'll be fine, my boy, just some bruises, cuts and scrapes, a slight concussion and cracked ribs. I would strongly advise you to take it easy for the next couple of days and you'll be right as a rain in no time. "He patted Tony's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. The young detective just nodded and resumed his previous activity – staring blankly out of the window.

Ducky frowned and once again sat down on the bed besides the silent man.

"What is bothering you, Anthony? You know you can confide in me, I'm silent as a grave. "

"I'm fine, Ducky," Tony replied, not even sparing the ME a glance. But Ducky was nothing if not persistent. He grasped the younger man's chin and turned his face around to face him.

"You are certainly not fine, my boy. So we could do it the easy way or the hard way."

Tony furrowed his brow. "What exactly is the hard way?"

Ducky grabbed his bag and rummaged in it before taking out a big syringe and holding it against the light. "You don't want to know, believe me. So, do both me and yourself a favor and out with it."

The younger man gulped and looked fearfully at the object in Ducky's hand. The elderly physician watched as Tony sighed and slumped even further into the cushions. He looked so defeated that it broke the older man's heart. A boy his age shouldn't feel like that!

"My partner…Daniel," Tony whispered and Ducky had to come closer to hear him at all.

"Go on," the physician encouraged.

"Well, he has problems with alcohol." He flushed deep red as if he was the one who should be ashamed. "And since Gibbs threw him out of the investigation…well, he wasn't very happy about it, if you know what I mean."

"Your own partner did this to you?!" Ducky couldn't believe what he was hearing; his own partner, a fellow detective did this to the poor boy? If there was something that Ducky had learned from Gibbs over the course of the years they had known each other, it was that the bond between partners be cherished as one of complete trust. Not…not this! No wonder the boy was so out of sorts.

"It isn't his fault, I was the one who caused this mess," Tony tried to reason, tried to _justify_ the actions of his bastard of a partner! Ducky couldn't believe it. This was wrong on so many levels and it made him angry. Not at Tony, but at the whole world for letting the boy live his life thinking he was responsible for everything bad that had ever happened to him.

"I don't want to hear you say such nonsense ever again, you hear me, Anthony? This is in no way you're fault. Do you understand me?"

Tony just nodded meekly and sent a fake smile his way, but Ducky saw right through it. He wasn't so naïve as to think this issue was dealt with, but that would have to wait for some other day, Anthony clearly was too exhausted to continue this talk.

"This talk is far from over, my dear boy," Ducky warned, "but for now, it'll have to be enough, I suppose. Now roll over. Let's give you something for the pain."

Tony's eyes widened at the words and the syringe in the elderly MD's hand.

"B-but I thought it was just, you know, 'the hard' way if I refused to tell you what happened!"

Ducky gave him a wide, innocent smile. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

Tony swallowed hard.

* * *

To be continued :)

A/N: Thank you all for your beautiful reviews! Each and every one makes me heart jump from joy, seriously. I am blessed to have such wonderful readers! Especially after such an awful week I've had. To sum it up, it started with some stupid test at school, continued with a demanding boss at work, permanent headaches and some nausea and dizziness and ended with being chased by a junkie through the forest…yeah, no kidding there. Leave a couple of sweet words for me and I'll love you forever :)

Hugs,

Andy

Ps: Sorry if there were some mistakes…I was impatient and wanted to upload this chapter as soon as possible :D


	11. Bedside Discussions

Ducky looked at his patient and gave a weary sigh. The boy had fallen asleep a couple of minutes ago after a valiant struggle to avoid being injected with painkillers, but Ducky was not to be deterred and had won in the end. The dose wasn't as high and under normal circumstances wouldn't put the young man to sleep, but Ducky guessed there were other factors to consider in this case. The elderly MD quickly took advantage of the younger man's state and gave him a more thorough examination. Anthony had been very uncooperative during the initial treatment of his wounds, refusing to let Ducky see all of them. He checked Tony's nose in case there was a fracture that wasn't visible at first glance but was relieved to find none. The younger man had refused to be touched anywhere near his face for some reason, so Ducky had to base all his findings on just looking at the injuries. The bleeding had stopped on its own accord, so there was no reason for any further actions there; an icepack should do well enough for the swelling and bruising. The cuts and scrapes were of various lengths, but thankfully, none were deep enough to require stitches; just a little bit of cleaning up.

The elderly ME sighed at the black and blue face of his young friend and the way he struggled to get air through his swollen noise; hard to imagine the cause of all this was a person he should have been able to trust, his partner. He moved to re-check the ribs, even though he was sure his original diagnose was correct, but Anthony had been very fidgety and it never hurt to double-check. He carefully pulled Tony's shirt up and gently prodded the bruised rib cage, earning a hiss from the still sleeping man. Satisfied that there were no broken ribs, just bruised and cracked ones, he was just about to put the shirt back down when he noticed the thin, white scars scattered randomly across the abdomen and side of his patient.

"What do we have here, my dear boy?" His trained medical examiner's eye was quick to determine just how old the soft lines were."These didn't happen recently, did they?" There was no reply, not that Ducky expected any.

"No, these seem far older than that. Childhood scars, perhaps?" He looked at Tony's face and frowned; he had been intrigued by the younger man's erratic behavior, by what made the boy act as he did, but now, when suspecting the cause, Ducky felt oddly defeated.

"Don't worry, Anthony," he reassured the young detective, "your secret's safe with me."

Patting him on the shoulder, Ducky stood up and left the room quietly. He still had to inform Jethro and Abigail of his findings.

* * *

"Gibbs?" Abby's uncertain voice brought Gibbs out of his thoughts and he looked down at the Goth who was sitting next to him on the sofa. Putting an arm around her shoulders he brought her closer and she gladly accepted the comfort, cuddling into his side.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." He soothed without looking at her.

Abby's eyes filled with tears. "You haven't seen him when I've found him. H-he was unconscious, bleeding from all the cuts on his face…and from his nose…it was terrible, Gibbs!" She buried her face into his jacket, breathing in the comforting scent of sawdust mixed with a hint of something undeniably Gibbs.

"It's funny," Abby began, grinning through tears, "how a couple of days ago, we've known absolutely nothing about a detective named Anthony DiNozzo and now, here we are, a couple of days later and worrying about him."

Gibbs had to laugh at the truth behind her words. "Yeah, I have a feeling DiNozzo is a magnet for more than just trouble."

"You noticed that, huh?" She gave him a dimpled smile that quickly faded into a frown when catching sight of the tired looking MD, who made his way into the room with a distressed expression on his face.

"Ducky?" Abby bit her lip in a nervous gesture. Gibbs turned around to watch as his older friend sighed and sank wearily into the couch.

"Abigail, Jethro," Ducky acknowledged them and smiled slightly at the cup of tea that was waiting for him on the table. "Thank you for the tea, Abigail."

Abby cocked her head to one side, confusion evident on her face."How did you know it was me?"

"You tend to…get restless when worried, my dear. It doesn't take an investigator to figure that out," he replied before smiling and looking in Gibbs' direction, "and I can imagine Jethro had other things on his mind than remembering to make me tea."

"Damn straight," Gibbs grumbled. "So, how is he?"

"Well, the lad has been lucky," Ducky sighed, "he received quite the beating, but other than some particular nasty and tender bruises, there was nothing some rest and painkillers can't cure."

"But what about all the blood?" Abby asked, remembering how she had found Tony and shuddering at the memory.

"Don't concern yourself with that," the ME soothed, "his face had some nasty cuts and it is most unfortunate that facial injuries tend to bleed a lot. He suffered a mild concussion and a swollen nose but thankfully nothing broken. I had been concerned about possible rib fractures but thankfully they are just cracked. They should heal on their own and the best we can do is help him fight the pain. "

Ducky finished and looked at the duo in front of him. Abby had tears in her green eyes but looked content was nothing was seriously wrong with her new friend. Gibbs' face was unreadable but the taut lines of his jaw and the way he curled his fingers around the poor unsuspecting cup of coffee told a story of its own.

"He tell you what happened?" Gibbs inquired but Ducky could easily read the true question behind his words. _Who did that to him?_

"I am sorry Jethro but I am not in a position to reveal this information to you. I was sworn to secrecy in this matter and you know how seriously I take my role as a confidant. "

Gibbs scowled before noticing Ducky's amused expression. "What?"

"But if you were to find out on your own." The elderly ME looked at him meaningfully.

"You want me to guess?" The disbelief was apparent in the ex-marine's voice."What is this, charades?"

"Oh, I love charades!"Abby squealed and jumped up from the couch. "Guess who I am."

She took the empty cup of coffee from the table, straightened up and glared. Ducky nodded appreciatively. "You make a fine Jethro, my dear."

The forensic scientist pouted."That obvious?"

Ducky and Abby continued their discussion but Gibbs wasn't paying attention to them anymore. Ducky got him thinking. It was obvious that the person who was responsible for DiNozzo's injuries was someone he knew, or else Ducky wouldn't have him guessing. That left only 2 people, Detective Sgt. Ward, Tony's CO or detective Daniel Kinsey, his partner. From what he had seen before, Ward was a good for nothing CO, showing no interest in the young detective with so much potential under him. No interest whatsoever, which meant he had no reason to do this to DiNozzo. That would leave just…

He clenched his fists

"It was his partner, right? Detective Daniel Kinsey?"

He ignored Abby's gasp and concentrated on the doctor who suddenly looked years older, his eyes conveying everything he couldn't voice at the moment. It was all the answer Gibbs needed.

"I'll talk to him," Gibbs announced, his feet already taking him in the direction of the bedroom. His path was suddenly blocked by Ducky, with his hands on his hips and a scowl plastered on his usually calm face.

"I can't let you do that, Jethro. He is asleep and rest is of the utmost importance during the period of his convalescence."

"This needs dealt with, Duck," he countered." Next time, he won't have to be so lucky. And now's the perfect time to get some answers from him; he's still weak, confused and on the edge. Give him some time to rest and recoup and you'll get nothing from him. Now's the right moment to strike."

Ducky shook his head and Gibbs couldn't help but feel remorse for what he was about to do, but it had to be done. Coddling wouldn't help DiNozzo at the moment, getting rid of his problem would. His problem was Kinsey, and if bringing out his bastard side was what could get him some answers and prevent the beating from happening again, so be it.

"You make it sound like a battle plan, Jethro." There was resignation in the elderly ME's voice, but Gibbs refused to feel guilty for doing what he thought was right.

"Feels like it, too," Gibbs drily replied, before continuing on his way to the bedroom, hearing Ducky's heavy sigh and a muttered, "should have threatened him with that syringe," from behind him. He would have to ask about that later. The door closed behind him, muting the conversation taking place in the living room, and he looked at the sleeping detective curled up on the bed with a pillow to his chest, hugging it with a surprisingly strong grip for someone unconscious. Ducky had left the small bedside lamp on and it illuminated Tony's face enough for him to see the bruises, cuts and scrapes even from his position at the door. Moving further into the room, he sat down on the chair Ducky had left next to the bed and waited for any signs of waking up from the younger man.

DiNozzo looked different in this drug induced sleep than he did when awake, Gibbs noticed. He looked younger and more carefree somehow. With the pillow tucked under his chin and mouth opened slightly Gibbs found it hard to believe this was a _man_ that investigated homicide on a regular basis in a city with the highest crime rate in the US. When he was awake, there was an air of confidence, no matter how fake it was, and it led people to believe he could shoulder far more weight than was necessary for a kid like him. He had looked at DiNozzo's file and although the detective had an impressively long list of former work places during his relatively short police career, the fact that he managed to make detective in record time spoke for itself.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a muffled whimper. Tony curled up into a tighter ball with the pillow stuck between his chest and knees. He hissed as if in pain and Gibbs was just about to wake him up when he remembered Ducky telling them DiNozzo had some cracked ribs. No wonder he was uncomfortable in that position! The ex-marine carefully took hold of Tony's shoulder and set him so he was lying flat on his back.

DiNozzo made an appreciative "hmmm" before going silent again and looking the most content the NCIS agent had seen him so far. Gibbs leaned back in the chair. Guess he had to wait now; it would be a shame to wake him up now when he was comfortable.

* * *

Awareness came slowly to Tony. He felt as if his brain was wrapped in cotton candy, making everything around him look somewhat fuzzy and unreal. As if it wasn't even there, or maybe it was him that wasn't there? His mind was a mess of thoughts that kept swirling around without any logic and he had to try real hard to remember what had happened to get him into this situation. Everything came back in a rush to him and he sat up as fast as his injured ribs could manage, gasping for air.

"You ok, DiNozzo?" The gruff question caught him off-guard and Tony almost fell from bed when he noticed the older man sitting on the chair next to his bed.

"Wha-what are you doing here, Gibbs?"

Gibbs narrowed his eyes into slits at his stammered and surprised question. "What? You thought we'd bandage you up and just leave?"

Tony met his gaze bravely. "Why not? You didn't have a reason to stay."

"That isn't how it works."

"How what works?" Tony asked, truly having no idea what he was talking about. Everything was blank in his head, it was hard to think straight and Gibbs seemed to be eager for some weird small talk that made no sense to him.

"We're working on a triple homicide right now. _Together_. That makes us a team." Gibbs answered and Tony could almost hear the silent "duh" somewhere in that sentence. "And teams don't work like that. I don't leave people behind."

Tony heard the sincerity in the other man's voice, and had to bite his lip hard to prevent his big mouth from telling him everything he never wanted to know. How not all teams worked like that. How his partner had beat the hell out of him just because he had been kicked off the case; just because he was a mean drunk with some unresolved problems. How people got left behind all the time, not only in teams but in families as well. But what good could it do? Telling Gibbs would just open a can of worms for him that he just wasn't ready to face yet. Not to mention how stupid it would be to break down in front of a man he had only know for a couple of days. He wouldn't, _couldn't _do that to him_._

"Abby and Ducky still around?"

Gibbs gave him an exasperated look. "Haven't you been listening to a word I've said?"

"Hey, I'm just figuring how big this team of ours is. You know, just in case more people came barging into my apartment, hugging the crap out of me in true team spirit."

The words were biting and harsh and Tony wanted to take them back as soon as he saw the hurt look that briefly made an appearance on the stoic face of the silver haired man. But the look disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

"You want us to leave? No problem there, DiNozzo, if that's what you really want."

"I didn't mean it like that," Tony replied. "Sorry, everything's still a little bit mixed up in my bed."

Gibbs just nodded and they were once again left in silence. It was uncomfortable and Tony was so desperate that he was contemplating starting a conversation about the weather, when Gibbs finally broke the quiet atmosphere.

"You ready to tell me what happened?"

He didn't need to specify what he meant by that, Tony knew. Lying would probably get him nowhere with the NCIS agent, doesn't mean he wouldn't try it, though.

"A word of advice," he leaned closer to the older man, "it's not a good idea to try doing forward rolls down the stairs."

Tony was expecting a glare, or maybe an impatient scowl with a demand to tell the truth…but not this. Definitely not a slap to the back of head.

"Ouch!" he yelped and rubbed the spot where Gibbs' hand had connected with his skull. Although, it wasn't that hard of a slap…but it was definitely unexpected and he didn't know what to think of it.

"You remember I've suffered a concussion, right?"

Gibbs nodded with a quirk of his lips. "Just helping you set your head straight."

"I think it'll be permanently tilted forward from now on."

The older man held up his hand with a smirk. "I could give it another try."

Tony looked aghast and inconspicuously tried getting out of reach of the second slap but he got tangled up in his sheets and fell forward, face hitting the wrinkly bed covers.

"Bed not cooperating, DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked with humor evident in the tone of his voice.

Tony raised his face, a sheepish smile on his face. "Is it still so hard to believe I fell down the stairs?"

Gibbs snorted at that. "No, it wouldn't be. I still think you're lying, though."

Tony sat up slowly, careful of the vicious sheets and took a deep breath. There was no sense in keeping it a secret, he had a feeling Gibbs would find out one way or another.

"It was my partner," Tony started, voice detached, as if he was recounting case facts," and he had two other men with him."

Gibbs nodded. "Why did he do it?"

"Was pissed because you've kicked him off the case. He has some problems with alcohol and I guess he probably jut lost it. No big deal."

Tony was surprised to see anger on the older man's face. What did he do now?

"No big deal?" Gibbs growled. "Look into the mirror recently?"

"Yes, I did see, so what? It's not as if it was his fault! He doesn't have it easy, you know? Lots of nasty stuff happened to him in the past."

"So that makes it right? You think his well-being is more important than yours?"

Tony huffed and turned around, intent on ignoring the older man altogether.

"Think he is more important than you?"

The words hurt, a lot, Tony had to admit. These were the questions he kept asking himself over and over again all his life, but he could never really find the right answer. Every time he convinced himself he was worth something, somebody came and proceeded to show him why he was wrong. Why was Gibbs so insistent?

"He isn't, just so you know."

Tony ignored what the other man was saying, opting instead for bringing his knees up to his chin and staring out of the window into the night. The stars were out tonight.

Silence stretched between them but the young detective was refusing to be the one to break it. Not this time. He heard Gibbs sigh in the background and stand up from the chair. Then there were footsteps and Tony was sure the older man would leave without another word. The thought hurt more than he expected it would. Except Gibbs didn't follow the script, he did say something to him.

"It's too dangerous for you to be alone right now. You'll be staying with us at the hotel, for the time being."

And before he could turn around and reply to _that_, Gibbs was already out of the door.

To be continued

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the longer wait but this week has been one big struggle. Struggle to find time for school, struggle to find time for writing and reading…a struggle not to cry…but your reviews helped a lot! It means so much to me, when you leave me a line or two. I am truly blessed to have readers like you…

Sorry if there were some mistakes, my eyes are gritty from lack of sleep…it's 3 AM and I have school tomorrow :(

Please leave me a review? I'll love you forever! :)

Hugs,

Andy


	12. What We Hide

12. Chapter

Despite Tony's arguments, pleas and downright refusal, he found himself in the back of Gibbs' car with Abby hugging his arm and the two older men sitting in the front. Abby had been delighted that he would be coming with them and decided they would have the "bestest" sleepover ever, while Ducky had just nodded and praised the arrangement, saying it would be the most prudent course of action.

"You're being awfully quiet," Gibbs observed and Tony gritted his teeth but refused to answer. He was practically forced into the car, given no chance to refuse; did Gibbs really think he would just accept it like that? As if it was the greatest thing that happened to him? Like hell he would. He may have had the crap beaten out of him a couple of hours ago, but he still had some of his pride left, dammit! Not to mention Gibbs had hit him! He subconsciously rubbed the back of his head and stared out of the window. The NCIS agent was watching him through the rear- view mirror but Tony refused to meet his eyes.

"You alright?" Abby joined in," Are you hurting? Bossman is right, you're awfully quiet."

"I'm fine." Came his terse reply; he was angry at all of them for basically kidnapping him from his own home. No way was he going to make it easy for them and follow their each command like some lost puppy. He didn't ask for their help; he was alright on his own.

"Then what's with the long face, my dear fellow?" Ducky's concerned voice reached his ears and Tony closed his eyes, not wanting to see the worried looks the elderly ME kept sending his way. He didn't need to feel guilty on top of…all this. He had a right to be angry. Making decisions about him, without him reminded him all too painfully of his childhood with an authoritative father who never took his opinion into consideration. He didn't need this now. And definitely not from a special agent who thought it was alright to slap him around and treat him like a child.

"Concussions and head-slaps obviously don't go together," Tony replied in hopes it would cover up the anger he was feeling at the moment.

"Head-slaps?" Abby asked, her brows drawn together in obvious confusion."Am I missing something?"

"Ask Gibbs." It was his most favorite diversion tactic, draw attention to a different matter, especially one that could cause some kind of commotion.

"You've hit him on the head!?" the forensic scientist exclaimed in horror and Tony smirked to himself. This should give him enough time to calm down and regain his composure.

"How could you do such a thing? You know he has a concussion! You could have done some serious damage to his brain or something."

Ducky frowned. "I agree with Abigail on this one, Jethro. You've had enough concussions in your lifetime to know how dangerous they can be when further aggravated with-"

"It was more a tap than a slap," Gibbs stopped the elderly MD's tirade and Tony risked a glance at the rear-view mirror to gauge his reaction. He expected disappointment and anger. He expected Gibbs to turn around and drive his sorry ass back to his apartment and leave him there without another word. Instead he found Gibbs looking at him with a knowing smile on his face. What the…

"So, you ready to tell us what's really bothering you?"

"I'm just tired."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Wanna try that again?"

"Not really," he replied and sulkily crossed his arms over his chest. He felt caged, confined and utterly lost in this new reality that asked no questions and gave no choices. Never had he felt the need to scream so urgently, so strongly. Just a couple of days ago there had been no Leroy Jethro Gibbs in his life; no one to barge straight into his world, hurricane-style, and demand control. He wanted his life from a couple of days ago back. He wanted it back because it was familiar and constant, something that he had always tried to achieve. He wanted it back…

Deeply engrossed in his thoughts as he was, Tony almost jumped out of his skin when a cold hand gently touched his arm. He whirled around and came face to face with Abby's worried green eyes.

She bit her bottom lip."Are you mad at us?"

He opened his mouth to reply only to close it a couple of seconds later, no smart words, no stupid jokes, no empty platitudes, nothing coming to mind. He was speechless. Abby took his hand in hers and caressed it gently, still looking at him with concern in her eyes. And suddenly all his anger faded away in face of the worry she obviously felt for his well-being, as irrational as it seemed in his mind.

"I'm not mad at you," he sighed, "I'm just tired. It has been a long and hellish day." He paused to look at the other three people of the car and gave them a small smile. "And I think I just might puke if Gibbs won't slow down."

"Oh, my poor baby!" She exclaimed and carefully leaned against his side, conscious of all the bruises."Slow down, Gibbs, you're making him sick."

To Tony's surprise, Gibbs did slow down to an almost legal driving speed. "Thanks."

Gibbs flashed him the briefest of smiles. "Wouldn't want the car getting dirty."

"Real nice of you, Gibbs. They give you sensitivity training at NCIS?"

"Nope, it comes naturally to me," Gibbs replied seriously and Abby giggled into his jacket.

"No, really," the forensic scientist added when she saw the doubtful expression on his face. "He's a real snuggle bug under that tough marine image."

"Abby," Gibbs warned, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to turn around and glare at both of them.

"Jethro, I think it would be wise to watch where we're going," Ducky advised, but the hint of amusement in his voice spoke for itself. "Although I do have to say, this conversation has taken a very interesting course. "

"About that snuggle bug thing…" Tony started, eager to hear more about it but trailed off when seeing the glare the so-called snuggle bug kept sending him.

"Say one more word and I'll throw you out of the car," he growled and Tony rolled his eyes theatrically at the threat. "Yes, sir."

"Don't call me sir, I work for a living."

"You know, this reminds me of the movie 'Scent of a Woman' with Al Pacino and Chris O'Donnell. This was before he played Robin in the Batman movies. So the movie is about this retired -"

"Do I look like someone who would care about that?" Gibbs cut him off and Tony considered the question for a moment before grinning and cheerfully answering," I did mention it was about a Lt. Colonel, right? You know, US army, impossible to get along with…ring a bell?"

"You forgetting he was blind," he replied drily, causing Tony to gasp and point a finger at the ex-marine."You do know the movie!"

"Oh, you two are so much fun together," Abby exclaimed, clapping her hands and bouncing in her seat. "Can we keep him, Gibbs?"

"I don't know, Abby," the older man seemed to consider this for a moment. "It depends on if he's fully housebroken yet."

"Hey!" Tony yelled in indignation, not appreciating being compared to a dog. "I can hear you, you know."

"Wouldn't say it if you couldn't hear it." Gibbs countered with a smile on his face and the younger man felt unexplainably proud of being the one to put it there. He leaned back in his seat, ignoring the pain that started anew since the painkillers wore off, and looked around at the people who he had been angry with just a mere couple of minutes ago. As soon as the anger had worn off, it had been replaced by an odd sense of peace. For some reason, unknown to him, this little group of people seemed to think he was someone worthy of their attention, worthy of their care. It left him confused, but too tired to care about all the 'why's' and 'how's'. And if he wanted to be honest with himself, it felt nice to let others take care of his problems for him. To let others take charge and make decisions for him. It had been so long since he was anyone's but his own responsibility.

"Tony." Abby's quiet voice interrupted his trail of thoughts."We're here."

He climbed out of the car and sighed; letting them care for him had been the easy part, proving that he was worth it would be harder.

* * *

"You sure Gibbs won't mind me taking the bed, Ducky?" Tony asked from the bed as the MD looked through his medical bag for painkillers.

"Anthony, once and for all, Gibbs doesn't mind. You should stop fretting about it and get some rest instead. Your body still needs to recuperate."

The younger man nodded and lay down, the day's events finally catching up with him and leaving him utterly spent and exhausted. Immediately upon arriving at their rooms, Gibbs had decided it was way past their bedtime and had ordered both him and Abby to bed. Tony was supposed to take the bed and Gibbs would take the couch. He'd briefly considered arguing that he wasn't a child with a bedtime anymore, but why bother when he'd been hardly able to stand on his own two feet?

"You're still not sleeping?" Tony cracked one eye open and looked at the silver haired man standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, an amused expression on his face.

"Was waiting on you to tuck me in."

"I was just about to give him another dose of painkillers," Ducky announced, standing up from his bed and crossing the distance to Tony with a bottle of pills in the hand.

"At least it's not that needle from hell," the younger man muttered and took the offered pills, popping them into his mouth and dry-swallowing.

"That's not very good for your throat, my boy." Ducky frowned at him but the younger man just shrugged. "I've always dry-swallowed my pills. Father always said to take it like a man." Tony made a disgusted face. "I hated it as a kid…but I've got used to it since."

The elderly MD and Gibbs exchanged a glance but Tony was too tired to care about their silent communication at that point. The day had been long and the bed was so soft and inviting. He closed his eyes once again, effectively ending the conversation. After a couple of minutes spent half asleep, he heard the light being turned off and then some rustling of fabric, but the Baltimore detective figured it was just the good old doctor getting ready for bed. He definitely didn't expect someone to come and cover him with a blanket. In his whole life, this was probably the closest he ever came to being tucked in.

"Good night, DiNozzo," Gibbs whispered and it was the last thing Tony heard before sleep overtook him. /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Waking up in pain was definitely not one his most favorite ways to start the day, that was for sure. Tony kept his eyes closed as he tried to breathe through the throbbing of his ribs and it also gave him a couple of minutes to remember what the hell happened to make him feel as if a horde of elephants decided to make camp on his chest. Suddenly, the events of the previous day came back in a rush of flashbacks and Tony groaned aloud when recalling the mess he had got into. Not only was Daniel somewhere out there, probably still pissed as hell and ready to make him pay for whatever the older man thought was his fault, but he had also managed to drag Gibbs, Abby and Ducky along for the ride. They would regret trying to help him, and that was what worried him the most. He liked having them around.

"Are you alright, Tony?" His eyes flew open at the unexpected voice and he almost fell over trying to sit up, causing his pain to flare up. "Ouch."

"Easy," Abby soothed from her position next to him on the bed. "It's just me."

She rubbed his back as he took deep breaths in order to calm down and ease the pain. "That's it Tony, take deep breaths. In-out, in-out."

He leaned back against the pillows and chuckled at her choice of words. "I'm not giving birth, you know."

She gave him a mock-glare. "Well, you should have said so before, mister. And here I thought I'd be an auntie soon."

Tony closed his eyes and groaned, causing Abby to worry once again. "Are you in pain again? I should probably call Ducky to give you some pills or something."

"Nope, I'm just having really disturbing mental-images from the movie Junior."

"I thought it was cute! Gotta love mommy Arnie," she countered and leaned against the pillows as well, both staring at the ceiling.

"If you say so; makes me wonder who'll be the dad in that cute little family, though."

"Tony, this is Arnie we're talking about! He can be both."

He gave her his widest grin, the one that could charm just about anybody…well, except Gibbs."It's a mom… it's a dad, it's… Arnie!"

They both laughed and then fell into a comfortable silence spent staring at the walls. Tony turned his head to the side and watched as she did the same. It was weird, laying in bed with a woman in a non-sexual way and feeling this comfortable. He generally wasn't very used to dealing with demonstrative people like Abby, but now, here with pigtailed Goth, it was ok.

"Do you make it a habit to greet everyone this way in the morning? Or is it just me?"

"Gibbs sleeps with a gun," she replied as if it explained everything…and it probably did."And Ducky…well, he talks in his sleep. Some things are just better left unsaid." She shuddered for good measure and he tried not to imagine what had Abby so disturbed."So that left you. Plus, you're injured! I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm ok, Abby." He did feel fine…all things considering. Some soreness was to be expected, after all. "What time is it?"

"It's half past 6," she replied and got off the bed."I'll let Ducky know you're awake, he'll probably want to look you over."

Abby practically skipped off to find the elderly English man, nearly colliding with Gibbs who was on his way to see Tony with a coffee cup in hand, causing him to almost spill the caffeine drink.

"Abby," he warned and she just smiled at him. "Sorry, Gibbs!"

"The Caf-Pow's on the table in the kitchen," the NCIS special agent announced but Abby was already out of earshot to hear him. Figuring Abby could sniff out the drink on her own, he turned around came into the room.

"What's a Caf-Pow?" Tony drew his brows together in puzzlement, he had never heard of it before.

Gibbs sipped his coffee, observing him over the rim of his cup. "It's a drink. Caffeine-based. It's what makes Abby so bouncy."

"Oh, is there some rule about members of your team having caffeine addictions or is it just a coincidence?"

"There's no such a thing as coincidence. I spent months looking for a forensic scientist, who refused to work without her daily dose of energizing drinks, "Gibbs replied with such a serious face, that Tony couldn't help but laugh out loud, causing his ribs to protest against the abuse he was subjecting them to. He reflexively curled up into a ball on the bed, hoping it would ease the pain somewhat.

"Remind me not to laugh next time."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Gibbs squeezed his shoulder briefly making Tony forget the pain for a moment to open his eyes in surprise at the gesture. He carefully uncurled his aching limbs and turned around to study the ex-marine, now standing next to the bed, with open curiosity. He had already known that Gibbs was good at covering his emotions, but Tony himself was a pro in that particular skill. He had been forced into this talent very early on in his life and Gibbs couldn't hide everything from him, no matter how hard he tried. There was concern in his eyes and in the tight set of his jaw. There was some anger in there as well, but Tony wasn't sure who it was aimed at. The thought that the concern there was just for him filled him with warmth and he couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face.

Gibbs raised both eyebrows at the sudden change in the younger man."What?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You never asked permission before," the silver haired man replied, amusement evident in his tone of voice.

"You have any kids?"

Most people would have missed the brief flash of pain cross the older man's face, but Tony wasn't just anybody and he noticed. As soon as he saw the reaction he got, the young detective wanted to take back his question, but Gibbs beat him to it with his answer.

"No," he responded, voice strong, without any unnecessary emotions and Tony couldn't help but think he messed up big time in questioning the older man about his personal life. The light atmosphere from before was lost and replaced by tension, that could be cut with a knife.

"Why did you want to know?"

Tony sighed and wished he had a proper answer to that. He had been thinking how nice and caring, in his own special way, Gibbs had been to him and how he wished his father would have been a bit more like the NCIS special agent, which in turn had lead him to asking that stupid question. He decided the smartest thing would be to go a half truth.

"I just think you'd be good…with kids…as a father, I mean…you know."

Gibbs opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by Ducky who chose that exact moment to come in to check on him.

"Good morning, Tony! How are you feeling this morning?"

"Fine," he replied but got two unconvinced looks in return."Ok, so I'm a bit sore."

Two pairs of raised eyebrows."Ok, ok, I'm in agony and I think I just may die from the pain, now can you two please quit with those looks?"

Ducky chuckled at him. "Just making sure you're honest with us, my boy. It's the golden rule of medicine, never lie to your doctor, it never pays off."

"That's just because they are the ones with the giant needles at their disposal."

"Now, my dear fellow, I would never use my medical knowledge and skills in situations where they were not required."

Tony gave the elderly MD an unconvinced look and was pleasantly surprised when he saw Gibbs do the same.

"You two do not count. Clinical stubbornness is a special category."

He snorted at that but let the ME do his job and tend to his wounds. Even he was smart enough not to bait the good old doctor when in a vulnerable position like the one he was in.

"Your injuries are healing quite nicely," Ducky commented after he had prodded every single bruise on his body, along with his cracked ribs. "The swelling around the nose should disappear after a couple of days but like I said before, there's not much we can do about it, except for pain management."

Tony nodded at the explanation and was just about to stand up and get dressed when two hands grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back down and preventing him from leaving the bed.

"Hey! I need to get dressed for work, remember? The triple homicide we're investigating?"

Gibbs glared at him before replying, "You're not going anywhere until Ducky says it's ok for you to go."

"But I a-"he was cut off, rather rudely, by Gibbs raising his hand in a clear gesture that he should be silent.

"What do you say, Duck?"

"Well, the best choice would be if he were to stay in bed today and get some more rest," Ducky began, ignoring the words of protest coming from the younger man."But if he is so set on going with you, I could allow it under certain conditions."

Tony's eyes brightened immediately and he jumped at the opportunity, assuring the MD he would abide every rule he thrown at him.

Ducky laughed at his eagerness. "Hold your horses, Anthony; you don't even know my conditions yet."

"I don't care what they are as long as they get me out of this hotel room into the field today."

"But I do care. Duck?" Gibbs growled, obviously at the end of his patience with the talkative duo.

Ducky bristled at being addressed in such tone but answered nonetheless."Just make sure he doesn't strain himself. No unnecessary physical activity and make sure to take breaks every couple of hours. And don't forget he needs to take his painkillers; unnecessary pain could lengthen the time of his recovery. I think that's about enough of my conditions."

"You hear that, DiNozzo…" Gibbs looked down, to where he had forced Tony to sit down, only to find it empty."I swear that boy needs a leash."

The younger man walked out of the bathroom, dressed in fresh clothes he had brought along for the little "sleepover" as Abby called it, with a smile on his face and purpose in each step he took."Well, what are we waiting for? We still have a murderer to catch!"

TBC

A/N:

Ugh, this chapter was not cooperating at all…it's crappy…but I didn't want to let you wait too long for the update and I doubt I could write it any better in the near future…oh well. I hope there aren't too many mistakes, especially grammar-wise, because it tends to happen to me when I'm tired…

On a happier note, I have a little break from all the exams during Christmas and I'm so happy I could cry, seriously! It's a shame it's only a couple of days long :(

Once again a big thank you to all wonderful people out there who reviewed this story, or added it to their favorites or alerts…each and every message like this in my inbox makes my day so much brighter. Thank you guys, you can't even imagine what it all means to me! :)

If I won't manage to update until Christmas, to those of you who celebrate it, I wish a Very Merry Christmas full of joy, laughter and love! Love you guys,

Andy


	13. Confrontations

Chapter 13

A/N 1: 2 big confrontations up ahead…lack of humor in this one…warning :)

After having a quick and, thanks to Ducky, a very nutritious breakfast, the odd group of four drove to the Baltimore Police Department, ready to get back to the case. Ducky still had an autopsy to perform, Abby had evidence to process and Gibbs had a CO to interrogate and a detective to hunt. After a hug from the forensic scientist and a warning from the elderly ME to take it easy, Tony found himself alone with Gibbs once again. He was still a little bit confused by the turn of events and honestly didn't know what was expected of him after an ordeal like the one that happened yesterday. He really didn't think Daniel would be able to beat the hell out of him, like he did yesterday, but it wasn't anything shocking either. He had his share of experience with people like his partner, who were more often seen drunk than sober and so it didn't come as a big surprise to him when Daniel reacted the way he did. But having Gibbs, Abby and Ducky take care of him was something he found much harder to comprehend. They showed him more concern than anyone before in his life, for no apparent reason and it left him feeling bewildered. How was he supposed to act around them from now on? What if he managed to make them hate him? It wasn't that impossible in his case.

"Something bothering you?" Gibbs' voice startled Tony out of his thoughts, making him jump slightly.

"Everything's fine," he replied with a big grin, "just thinking about the case."

"The case, huh?" The older man gave him a doubtful look, but let it go, much to Tony's relief. He didn't think he could explain what was going on in his head, it was all a jumbled mess and despite being able to outtalk almost anybody, emotions were a completely different matter.

"You gonna show me to your CO's office or you want me track him down on my own?"

Tony gaped at the NCIS agent in front of him."Wha-what? Why would you want to talk to Detective Sgt. Ward? I mean, I already called him yesterday to give him a report."

Gibbs gave him a look as if it should have been obvious. "Something wrong with your memory, DiNozzo?"

"Not that I'm aware of. Although, that little concussion and those head slaps couldn't have been very healthy…" The glare the older man sent him was enough for him to stop from continuing.

"You really though I'd just leave things like they were? Pretend that your own partner wasn't a violent drunk who beat the living daylights out of you?"

Not wanting to admit that it was exactly what he had been counting on, Tony decided to go with his usual answer to hard questions like these - humor. "'Beat the living daylights?' Whoever uses that nowadays? You should definitely refresh your dictionary, Gibbs. Try saying something like 'beat the crap'. Although, there was this Bond movie called 'The Living Daylights', but seriously, whoever came up with that? How can daylights live?"

The smack to the back of his head wasn't that unexpected; he had been rambling about an idiom, after all. His was still tender from the concussion he had suffered the day before and even though Gibbs was evidently holding back, it still made his head throb.

He gave Gibbs a glare but the ex marine just crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for his truthful reply this time.

Tony sighed and decided there was no point in keeping secrets anymore; the older man had seen him at his worst the day before, revealing this little detail couldn't hurt, right?

"Yeah," he started,"I thought we'd just forget all about yesterday. It doesn't really matter, I'm fine an-"

"Like hell you're fine," Gibbs growled, "You look into the mirror lately? You're one giant bruise."

Tony opened his mouth to respond but Gibbs silenced him with a glower."This isn't just about some petty disagreement, DiNozzo. He is a drunk and that alone is reason enough to report him. But violence? Beating up his partner? Beating _you _up? That can't be overlooked and I can't understand why you're so against this."

The younger man averted his eyes and bit his lip in nervousness. How could he explain this to Gibbs without sounding stupid and utterly pathetic? How could the tough ex marine even understand that he didn't have a problem with the violence part? That he grew up with it and it was now a part of him?

"I just…don't want Daniel to lose his job on top of everything," he murmured, still looking anywhere but into the blue eyes of his temporary team mate. Though he behaved more like a boss than a partner, really.

"Why the hell not?" Gibbs' tone was harsh and unyielding.

"He had already lost too much in his life, Gibbs. You can't fault him for taking comfort in alcohol."

The NCIS agent's expression darkened and Tony unconsciously took a step back at the fierce look on his face. There was something different about the former sniper and it almost scared him. Almost.

"You think that's an excuse?!" he hissed, curling his hands into tight fists. "Imagine everybody solving their problems like this, with booze, violence and self-pity. To hell with the world, right? It's a stupid waste of time, so let's get pissed drunk instead." He took a step closer. "Think that's alright?"

The Baltimore detective narrowed his eyes, the anger in him rising. Of course he didn't think it was right! Living with his father was a cruel reality check very early on in his life. Did Gibbs really have such a low opinion of him? "No! Of course not!"

"And is it ok to hurt people when drunk? Does that excuse the abuse?"The ex marine's voice was calmer now but Tony was too angry to care at the moment.

"It doesn't excuse anything! "He spat out, hands clenched into tight fists.

"But it does when you're the one harmed? Just who the hell told you that, Tony?" The question was soft but demanding at the same time. There was an edge to his words that the younger man didn't understand and at the moment didn't particularly care about. Logically, he knew that he was being played, manipulated by the older man, but his emotions were on a rollercoaster ride lately and he was too tired to play it by his usual script. He didn't even notice that Gibbs replaced the usual 'DiNozzo' with the more casual 'Tony' for the first since he had known the man. All he knew was that he couldn't let the ex marine think he was so heartless or weak for that matter. He had to make him understand. He had already disappointed too many people in his life.

"Nobody…everybody. It was…something I grew up with. I understand it's a load of crap but…" He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "It's just…nobody ever gave me reason to believe otherwise."

Gibbs observed him for a couple of seconds in silence before shaking his head. "Then you're either stupid or too blind to notice."

Tony gave him a questioning glance, demanding further explanation.

"Why do you think Abby is so dead set on hugging you each time she sees you? And Ducky? He can't stop talking about what an 'exceptional young man' you are. Think it's just because of your megawatt smile?"

"You think I have a nice smile?" He couldn't help but flash one of his most charming grins at Gibbs, who just rolled his eyes.

"What I think is that you're hallucinating, DiNozzo." The ex marine returned the smile with a small one of his own. "And that after you're done grinning like an idiot, you're going to show me the way to your CO's office."

Tony sighed dramatically, having once again regained the control over his emotions. "How could I possibly refuse such a polite request?"

"Always knew you were a fast learner."Gibbs nodded his head in approval as they started towards one of the halls in the building, DiNozzo leading the way for a change.

* * *

Tony led them into a crowded bullpen full of policemen going about their daily business, stopping at a desk with mountains of papers strewn all over the surface and some of them even creating a pile on the floor.

"This is my desk," Tony motioned towards the mess. "I haven't had much time lately to do paperwork."

"No kidding," the older man muttered, reaching out to grab one of the papers on top.

"No!" Tony yelped and grabbed Gibbs' wrist to stop him."Ever heard of the domino effect? We'd end up buried alive."

"This a danger zone I'm not aware of?"

"Gibbs, that's four months worth of paperwork! That'd kill just about anybody."  
The ex marine raised an eyebrow."Ever heard of a preventive strike? Do it on time and there's no need to worry about suffocating under its weight."

Tony gave him a horrified look and put a hand on his chest, right over his heart, for emphasis. "But where would the fun be in that?"

Gibbs just shook his head at the younger man's antics. He supposed it was an improvement from the depressed mood he had been in just a couple of minutes ago. It was both admirable and worrisome how quickly he could mask his true feelings with false exuberance. Pretending shouldn't come so easily to someone as young as DiNozzo; it was something that should have been reserved for bitter men like him, whose lives had already given and later taken everything from them.

Tony started to feel nervous under the close scrutiny and shuffled his feet before deciding a change of subject was in order. "Detective Sgt. Ward's office is right over there." He pointed to the door on the other side of the room. "We'd better get going now…"

"You're not going anywhere, DiNozzo." Gibbs announced and started towards the office." I want to talk to him without any witnesses."

The young detective gaped at the ex marine's retreating back."No witnesses? Gibbs! That's it, I'm coming with you!"

The NCIS agent stopped in his tracks, turned around and sent Tony a look that the younger man came to regard as the 'Gibbs-stare'. The look that made everyone, no matter how old, feel as if they were a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Sit." The tone of voice broke no arguments and Tony found himself automatically complying with the request."And stay there until I say otherwise."

Gibbs turned around and continued his trek to the office with a slight smile on his face, leaving a dumbfounded detective behind him.

"Hey!" The special agent was slightly surprised to hear the indignant response, having thought Tony would be too stunned to react in any way. "Just don't expect me to roll over at your command!"

Gibbs' smile widened. "Wouldn't have it any other way, DiNozzo."

* * *

Gibbs saw no reason in showing respect to someone like Tony's CO, who was too blind to even notice what was going on right under his nose, and barged into the office in his usual style, without knocking. Being in the Corps taught him a couple of valuable lessons, one of which was that a surprise attack gave you an advantage in battle. As far as he was concerned, this was a battle he wasn't taking any chances with.

He had met the man before, at the crime scene, and judging by what he had seen and heard, the detective was as a man too preoccupied with his own importance to care about what his people were going through.

Ward looked up from the document in front of him, shock at the intrusion evident in his sharp features. He obviously wasn't used to being interrupted without any warning. Well, too bad Gibbs wasn't in a very agreeable mood at the moment.

"Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs," the detective greeted, "to what do I owe the pleasure of this sudden visit?" The pleasant tone and friendly words were obviously forced, which only served to irritate the silver haired special agent even more.

"Just came for some chitchat." Ward snorted at that and the ex marine smirked at the reaction."You know, trade some crime fighting stories, go over office gossip, and discuss alcohol drinking while in duty. Just the usual stuff."

"Didn't take you for the gossiping type, agent Gibbs."

"Didn't take you for the avoiding type, detective," the ex marine countered, approaching the spacious oak desk.

Ward bristled and tightened his hold on the pen in his right hand."I'd appreciate it if you'd use my correct title. It's Detective Sgt., agent Gibbs."

"Dully noted, detective." Without waiting for an offer, the NCIS agent sat down on a chair right across from the other man and deliberately ignored the snapping sound that followed his answer.

"Please take a seat," detective Ward spat out, obviously not liking the fact that he was losing the control over the situation.

"Already did, as you can see." Gibbs refused to play his game."But we should probably get back to the reason why I'm actually here." His face immediately darkened and the whole air surrounding the agent turned icy.

He leaned forward and rapped the hard surface of the desk with his knuckles."I want you to get your head out of your ass and acknowledge the problems you're ignorance and indifference had led to. "

"Excuse me?!" Ward snarled, abandoning his sitting position in favor of the more intimidating standing one."Who the hell gave you the right to barge into my office and insult me?!"

"Can you even call it an insult if it's just the truth?" Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the looming figure."Not my fault you're incapable of controlling your detectives and leading this department."

Incredulous realization seemed to have dawned on the other man's face. "This all about DiNozzo?"

The NCIS agent's glare just intensified. He didn't like the tone of voice used in relation to his temporary teammate.

"Damn kid! Should have fired him a hell of a lot sooner." Gibbs' ears caught the muttered words and his anger at the other man rose.

Standing up and leaning against the desk, he glared. "For you're sake, I'm hoping you're taking about detective Daniel Kinsey."

Ward frowned in confusion. "Daniel? What does he have to do with anything?"

"Everything," Gibbs spat out. "It seems detective, and I use that term loosely, Kinsey has a bit of a drinking problem and enjoys taking out his frustration on his partner."

"That's ridiculous!" The detective laughed out loud."And how would they have solved all those cases they had had together with him drinking like that? Impossible."

"There's still DiNozzo. He ain't the one with the alcohol addiction."

Ward just shook his head, not believing a word he had just been told. He had heard lots of stupid things in his lifetime but this…was just plain absurd. He sat back down on his chair and regarded the man in front of him with amusement. "I don't know what DiNozzo has been telling you, but you've obviously become a victim of some prank of his, or something. But don't worry; I'll take care of the problem. Been considering firing him for a while now."

Gibbs couldn't believe what he was hearing. How short-sighted could a person get? Getting rid of Tony because he liked to joke around and keeping an abusing alcoholic? Where was the logic in that?

"Don't believe me? Then get your lazy ass out of this office and go look at DiNozzo! He's all black and blue because your good friend Kinsey decided it would be fun to use him as a human punching bag." Ward opened his mouth to retort but Gibbs beat him to it."Think twice about what you're about to say. I'm not in the mood to listen more crap."

The head of the Baltimore homicide department obviously didn't take his words too seriously and his next words anything but cautious in Gibbs' opinion."He could have gotten into a bar brawl for what I know. How does that prove anything?"

The silence that followed was tense, with both men were waiting for the other to break it. Gibbs tried to get his feelings of anger under control but was having no such luck. He wished for nothing more than to punch that smug bastard straight in the face. Hard. The ex marine didn't really want to imagine what he'd do once he met Kinsey in person. But right now, violence would only make it worse for Tony.

"Fine, don't believe me, don't believe bruises or Tony for that matter, don't believe all the evidence that's been sitting right under your nose but you're gonna regret this later! I'm not going to leave it like this, mark my words. We'll see what you're higher-ups will have to say about this."He gave Ward a cold smile."And do fire DiNozzo. I'll be the first one to offer him a job. Special Agent DiNozzo does have a ring to it, doesn't it?"

He turned around and started towards the door, leaving a speechless and pale detective in his wake. Truthfully, Gibbs hadn't though about offering Tony a job before this conversation. Not that he didn't think the younger man was good enough for the job, but because he hadn't had the time for decisions like that yet. But now, leaving the office of DiNozzo's CO and seeing what a bastard he was, he couldn't imagine leaving Tony behind with such a boss. Or partner for that matter.

And as he closed the office door behind him, spotting Tony sitting behind his overflowing desk with a frustrated expression on his face, Gibbs came to a sudden realization. He already considered Tony as his agent.

To be continued

A/N 2: Hope you liked it…and sorry if I made some mistakes…they are bound to happen to me :D Especially since it's…4AM??? I think I've just my new personal record of the time spent writing :)

Thank you once again for all the wonderful reviews, favs, alerts and pm's people! It means so so much to me!

I also want to wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR! May the New Year be full of love and laughter:)And may all your dreams come true! Sending you all a virtual cookie :)

Hugs,

Andy


	14. Panic

Seeing Gibbs disappear behind the door to his boss's office, Tony slumped dejectedly into his chair and ran his hand over his unruly mop of brown hair. He was screwed. The former marine wasn't one to mince words and neither was his boss. And who would be the casualty in the pissing match of the century? Tony. He sighed and slumped further in his seat. Not that he had much of a future in Baltimore, especially after that little incident with Daniel. Oh, who was he kidding, it was a beating in every sense of the word. He'd be stupid to stay with a partner like that. But he had been counting on leaving on his own, not being kicked out to the curb.

"Tony?" He raised his head to look at the pretty female police officer standing in front of his desk.

"Melissa," he greeted with a small smile, the slight throbbing reminding him of his previously split lip, "and how may I help you this fine day?"

"What the hell happened to you?" the young woman got straight to the point, not caring one bit about pleasantries. Stepping closer to him, she inspected his face, making him all the more self-conscious of the bruises marring his skin. "Don't tell me you got into a bar brawl over a woman."

"Melissa, you wound me." he defended, one hand over his chest. "Making such hasty and insensitive conclusions. What if I am a hero, who had been injured saving a poor old granny from a nasty robber? How would you feel then?"

"Surprised," she drily replied."That granny has to be one hell of a looker."

Tony crossed his arms over his chest, forgetting all about the cracked ribs he had sustained, and hissed at the unexpected pain. Melissa touched his shoulder lightly, as if afraid to hurt him with unnecessary strength. He wanted to shrug her off, not in the mood for her misplaced pity; he didn't need people looking at him with sympathy. They didn't know squat. Besides, the physical injuries were the least of his problems.

"Hurts, huh?" He snorted at her compassionate words; eyes tightly closed and trying to breathe through the pain. "No shit, Sherlock. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Just trying to be sympathetic, DiNozzo," she scowled, earning and apologetic smile from the Baltimore detective.

"Sorry, the pain's having some adverse effects on my lovable character."

"The pain? I hate to burst your bubble but…that's just you, Tony. Nothing lovable there."

Tony gave her a mock glare, successfully hiding behind his cheerful front. "Many would disagree with you on that, my dear Melissa."

"Not after getting to know you! You'd probably disgust them with your eating habits." She laughed at his outraged expression."Chill Tony, I was just trying to make you feel better."

Tony stared at her incredulously."Make me feel better? You really have a strange way of going about it."

"Well, what did you want me to do? Fret about all your boo-boos?"

"How about kissing them to make it all better?" She snorted at the pleading look he sent her and shook her head in disbelief.

"You're hopeless." The young police officer sighed."You should probably go home if you're feeling lousy. I'm sure that CSI guy can do the investigation on his own."

"What are you? Dyslectic?" Tony muttered, a bit angry how dismissive Melissa was when talking about the murder of three people. It was his responsibility to bring them justice, dammit!

"It's NCIS. And this is my investigation, no way am I gonna let somebody else…" he trailed off earning a puzzled look from the woman in front of him, but at the moment, he didn't particularly care. Daniel had just entered the bullpen and was looking around as if searching for something. Or someone. He felt cold dread wash over him at the thought of having to face Daniel after what had happened the day before. Alone.

Logically, he knew his partner couldn't do anything to him in a crowded room, full of police personnel, but his emotions were all over the place and all he wanted to do was to hide somewhere, where he wouldn't be found. Tony immediately looked towards his boss's office; instinctively searching Gibbs and hoping that the older man would suddenly appear and make everything right. It was pathetic how quickly he had got used to relying on the ex marine; seeing as Gibbs was still busy with his boss, Tony realized he was on his own.

Taking in a deep breath and blowing it out, he stood up, drawing himself to his full height and hid his shaky hands behind his back, not willing to let Daniel see just how his presence affected him. He would be on top of his game and show his partner that Anthony DiNozzo Jr. didn't scare easily.

Tony met the other man's gaze, expecting to see disgust or anger staring back at him. He couldn't help but feel surprised when the normally self-confident detective Daniel Kinsey broke the eye contact, preferring instead to stare at his feet. He looked almost…ashamed? No way…

"Tony?" Melissa called his name and he spared her a brief look, before glancing back at Daniel, only to see his slouching back as he made his way out of the bullpen, taking slow and hesitant steps.

Tony sagged into his chair, totally spent, as if he had just climbed Mount Everest…only to be knocked down from the very top. He was tired. No, he was completely _exhausted._

"What was that all about?" Melissa demanded; anger evident in the tone of her voice. He looked up, intending to answer her question, but was surprised when his normally overactive mind drew a blank. What was he supposed to say to that? Sorry, Mel, I truly couldn't give you my undivided attention this time because I've just had a little bit of a panic attack, triggered by seeing my partner, who in a drunken fit of anger beat me senseless yesterday. Yeah, that could work…when pigs would fly, hell would freeze over and Gibbs would knit him a warm sweater for winter. The mental image of the ex marine sitting in a rocking chair, like the one his grandmother had used to own, and carefully working on a ball of wool brought a smile to his face and before he knew it, he was laughing and not caring one bit how mad he must seem to the female police officer.

"You're crazy." Melissa shook her head."Let me know once you're back to your senses."

"Aye, aye, ma'am!" Grinning, he gave her a mock salute and watched as she turned around and left without a backward glance. Once she was out of sight, his smile turned downwards into a frown. Seeing Daniel had thrown him off balance. His reaction had been worse than he had anticipated. Sure, Kinsey _did _beat the crap out of him yesterday, but the sheer terror that had gripped him at seeing his partner had been a little overboard, right?

"Maybe I really am going crazy," he muttered, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes."Laughing at mental images of Gibbs knitting, talking to myself…next time I'll be hearing voices."

"Next time I find out you've been having mental images of me knitting, hearing voices will be the least of your worries."

"Please tell me you haven't really heard that and you're just a figment of my imagination." Tony pleaded, keeping his eyes closed.

Gibbs snorted, standing right next to younger man."You tell me." He slapped the back of his head."Does this feel real?"

Tony's eyes flew open and he rubbed the abused spot on his head."Too real. You do remember I still have that concussion from yesterday, right?"

"Oh, I do remember, DiNozzo, the shiner on your face is enough of a reminder for me. But it can't be that bad with all the whining you're doing."

"DiNozzo's do not whine," the Baltimore detective huffed," we get our point across in a very manly and dignified way."

"Yeah." Gibbs nodded and smirked at the other man's pouting face. "I can see that."

Tony was just about to open his mouth and reply, when the former marine's phone went off. He answered it with a gruff, "Gibbs." He really needed to work on his phone etiquette.

Tony observed as the NCIS special agent listened for a couple of seconds, before ending the call with a short, "We're on our way, Duck."

"Come on, Ducky has something for us."Turning around, he was already halfway through the bullpen when Tony finally managed to stand up from the chair he was sitting on, leaning heavily onto the desk for support. The pain from his ribs flared up at the sudden movement and he briefly considered yelling for Gibbs and telling the other man he needed some help. He quickly dismissed that idea; Gibbs would just tell him to either suck it up, or to get his ass back to the hotel if he wasn't fit enough for the investigation. No way in hell, would he let that happen. The ex marine had seemed to like him so far and he was not willing to ruin that by admitting he needed help standing up. He wasn't ready to lose that respect yet.

Gritting his teeth, Tony forced his body upright and made his way to autopsy, knowing the former marine wouldn't be very happy about his tardiness. In his haste to catch up with the older man, Tony all but forgot about the piles of paperwork littering the floor around his desk, sending it toppling over in a whirlwind of papers. He hurried his pace in case someone noticed the mess and wanted to make him clean it. Once he was out of the squad room, Tony breathed a sigh of relief, not expecting to find a scowling Gibbs waiting for him in front of the elevator with his arms crossed over his chest. He gulped at the menacing look the other man kept sending him, his mind already conjuring the possible ways Gibbs could kill him without attracting any unwanted attention.

"You could have just asked for help," Gibbs growled and Tony could have sworn he heard his jaw hit the floor at hearing those words. This wasn't expected.

"Uh, I, you see…"he stammered, not sure how exactly to react to that."Um, you were already gone?"

Gibbs' eyes narrowed."What do you think you have your vocal cords for, DiNozzo?" He opened the doors of the elevator and motioned for Tony to get in. "Move it, before I decide you're not fit for duty and send you to Abby."

Tony hastily did as he was told and waited for Gibbs to join him, before pushing the button for autopsy and leaning against the wall in relief. The pain was getting worse with each breath he took.

The former marine glanced at him from the corner of his eye."Why didn't you take the pain killers Ducky gave you?"

DiNozzo shuffled his feet nervously, unsure of how to explain his reluctance to take his meds."I-ah…I sometimes have this weird reaction to pain meds…not something you'd want to see, Gibbs."

The elevator came to stop and both men got off."Define weird, DiNozzo," the NCIS special agent ordered.

Tony sighed, realizing Gibbs wouldn't let the matter go unless he had a truthful answer."You know, I talk a lot, laugh a lot and generally don't make much sense. That kind of stuff."

Gibbs led the way to autopsy, his pace slow enough for Tony to keep up even with his aching ribs. Stopping right outside of the doors, the former marine turned around and gave the younger man a look that coming from someone else could almost be called playful. Gibbs giving him that look was just plain scary.

"And how's that different from what you do usually?"

Despite his ribs giving him hell, Tony couldn't help but cross his arms over his chest and glare at the older man. "Ha-ha, very funny Gibbs. I can hardly keep from cracking up."

Gibbs cocked his head to the side and smirked at his reaction. "I thought so too."

Tony sighed, but couldn't help but grin in response, even if it hurt like hell because of his split lip. Seeing Gibbs smile, even if it was at his expense, was so rare that he couldn't find it within himself to be angry. He was actually proud of putting that smile, smirk…whatever on the ex marine's face, as stupid as it sounded.

Gibbs opened the door and strode in, the smirk slipping off his face in favor of a blank expression Abby had told him was the 'Gibbs default' look. Unless he had a bad day, then it was replaced by 'default angry look'.

Tony followed the special agent into the room and spotted Ducky standing next to the autopsy table with his back to them. He seemed to be mumbling something as he was inspecting the opened chest cavity for internal damage. Tony immediately thought of his sore ribs, of the cracked bones in his chest and how easy it could have been for Daniel to kick a little harder, to break his rib cage and put him on Ducky's cold, metal table. He was here earlier…maybe he wanted to finish the job; maybe he's waiting for him outside with his friends, ready to end it all. Next time, it could be his chest lying open with Ducky's hand in it and…oh God, he was going to be sick.

He took a shuddering breath to calm down but it only caused the pain to worsen. His breathing quickened and he had to grab the wall for support.

"You got something for us, Duck?" Gibbs asked, oblivious to Tony's struggle not to lose the stomach contents all over the floor.

The elderly MD turned around, his hands streaked with red blood of the victim, and smiled in greeting."Ah, Jethro, Anthony, what a coincidence! I was just telling the poor Mrs. Curiton about you."

Gibbs just shook his head in amusement, already used to Ducky's odd habit of talking to his 'patients' and half-expected a comment from DiNozzo how it reminded him of some horror movie he had seen. When hearing no witty response from the usually chatty young detective, Gibbs turned around to see what was causing the unnatural silence and drew in a sharp breath at DiNozzo's state. The younger man was pale and shivering, grasping the wall with shaking hands and staring at the body of the dead woman.

"Tony?"

The Baltimore detective managed to briefly meet the older man's gaze before bolting for the nearest sink and throwing up.

"Oh, my…"Ducky gasped as he quickly disposed of his bloody gloves and went to fetch a bottle of water for the young detective. Gibbs hurried to Tony's side and put a comforting hand on his quivering back, wincing at the painful retching sounds.

"Just calm down, kid. " He gently rubbed a spot between Tony's shoulder blades and sighed. "You could've just said you weren't feeling well, Tony."

Tony didn't hear much of what the other man was saying but just the feeling of not being alone in his misery had a soothing effect and he managed to get the tremors under control. Feeling Gibbs' steadying hand move to the back of his neck in silent support gave him the strength to straighten up after he was done puking out his guts and smile shakily at the two older men in the room.

"Ewww," Tony whispered, grimacing at the bitter aftertaste in his mouth. "That was disgusting."

"Here you go, my boy, use the water to rinse your mouth. But no drinking yet." Ducky handed him a bottle of water and Tony accepted it with a grateful smile and did as he was told.

"It's flat soda; it'll calm your stomach." The ME added.

"Thanks, Ducky!" the young detective exclaimed, trying to sound as upbeat as possible; he didn't want to make a big deal out of this little episode."Just what I needed."

"You are most welcome, my boy." The elderly doctor smiled, patting his arm."Now hop up on the second table, I want to examine you and see what you have done to yourself this time. "

"No, Ducky, it's ok. Just the…well, I saw the body…and it's nothing, really I'm fine and don't need to be checked over," Tony stammered, coloring slightly under Gibbs' intense gaze. It was better to let them think he felt queasy when seeing blood and opened chest cavities, than explaining that the vomiting had been caused by a freaking panic attack of all things.

"I'll be the judge of that, Anthony. As far as I know, I'm the only one with a medical degree in this room at the moment. So, shush and hop up."

Tony was just about to open his mouth and argue further, when Gibbs stepped into his personal space with a glare on his face.

"You will do as Ducky says," he growled, "You're not fine, just look in to the damn mirror! You look like hell and that's saying it lightly. Puking your guts out isn't fine, it's far from fine and I don't need to be a doctor to tell you that."

Tony flinched at the angry tone, but Gibbs was far from finished reaming him out."Do I look like an idiot to you, DiNozzo?"

"No, sir." The younger man mumbled, staring at his feet in defeat.

"Then don't make one out of me. I don't appreciate being lied to; you'll do better to remember that. Now." He pointed to the second autopsy table in the room without taking his eyes of Tony."You'll sit down on your ass and have Ducky check you out. Are we clear, detective?"

"Yes, sir," Tony solemnly replied, cursing his stupid body for betraying him like that in front of the ex marine. Gibbs was disappointed in him and he had every right to be, considering how weak he must have seemed to the special agent. He sighed and with Ducky's help managed to sit down on the metal table.

The elderly ME wasted no time in examining him from head to toe, making Tony feel even more useless than before. Mrs. Curiton's body was lying on the autopsy table next to the one he was sitting on with a fucking bullet hole in her temple and instead of finding her killer, here he was, being fussed over by a ME because he couldn't keep his food down. Stupid, stupid, freakin' stupid.

"Well, Anthony," Ducky began cheerfully, "You're blood pressure's a bit high for my tastes as is your pulse, but I think it's understandable given the circumstances, my boy. I was mostly afraid you'd done more damage to your already cracked ribs, but thankfully, no such thing happened. But I do believe you are due for another dose of your pain meds, hmm?"

Tony just nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"As for your concussion, everything seems ok in that head of yours so far. But if yo-"

Gibbs snorted at that, earning a disapproving look from the MD. "As I was saying before Jethro rudely interrupted me, if you feel any dizziness, headache, double vision or-"

"I'll let you know immediately, don't worry. We've already had this concussion talk this morning, Ducky; you don't need to repeat it all."

"I would hope so, my dear fellow. " The ME opened a bottle of pills with and looked at him sternly."Open wide, Anthony."

"Uh, Ducky, I can take them on my own." Tony reached out and took the meds from the elderly doctor's hand."Thanks"

"Sure you don't want us to make airplane noises while we force-feed you the pills?"

Ducky sent Gibbs a warning look. "Jethro."

"Just take them already."

Tony looked uncertainly in the ex marine's direction, the bottle of pills firmly grasped in his hand, as if asking permission."What about the…you know… side effects?"

Gibbs sighed, anger dissipating when hearing the insecurity in the usually confident young detective's voice. Sitting on the metal table, legs dangling from the edge, pale –faced, hesitant and cradling the bottle of pills to his chest like the world's most valuable treasure, Tony DiNozzo looked more like a lost kid than a seasoned police officer. It hurt Gibbs to even look at him like that.

"Just take those meds, Tony, I don't care how loopy you get. You need them. And like I've said before, it can't be that much of a difference from the usual."

DiNozzo still looked unsure and hesitant, and it was all wrong because the Baltimore homicide detective he had first met was confident and cocky...he was anything but unsure and hesitant.

"Take them, or I'll go through with my threat and force them down your throat. I'm not kidding, Tony."

"Of course you're not," Tony muttered under his breath and Gibbs almost smirked; that was the DiNozzo he knew.

He took the pills and hopped off the table, hoping both the ex marine and the ME would stop looking at him as if he'd fall flat on his face every time somebody sneezed. He just wanted to get back to the case and feel useful again.

"So, you got something for us, Ducky?" Tony asked, glancing at the ME and walking towards the body of their victim. He took a deep breath and forced his previous thoughts of broken ribs to the back of his mind. Now wasn't the time to play the 'what if' game.

He saw Ducky and Gibbs exchange a look from the corner of his eye, before the good doctor answered, "Why, yes, indeed, I have some information about the death of Mrs. Curiton."

The elderly doctor joined Tony next to the autopsy table, followed closely by the former marine.

"The cause of death is a gunshot wound to her right temple, right here, as you may see gentlemen." Ducky turned the head on her left side, making it easier for them to see the deep round wound."I took out the bullet and sent it to Abby for analysis."

"We found her with both her hands on the steering wheel, there's no way this could have been a suicide, right Ducky?" Tony inquired, wanting to know if they were at least on the right track with the investigation.

Ducky shook his head."It couldn't have been suicide; that I can tell you for sure. I have found a number of bruises covering her body, the most notable being the ones on her wrists, see here?""He pointed to the ugly red abrasions on both hands.

"Looks like rope marks to me," Gibbs noted and the ME nodded his head.

"I have been able to salvage some fibers from, where the rope had dug into the poor woman's wrists. I have sent those to Abigail as well."

"So, there has been a struggle, our victim lost, was tied up, loaded into the car and killed on a road in the middle of nowhere." Tony summarized, his eyes taking in the damaged skin on the victim's hands."The first two victims were found floating on water in the harbor, cause of death ricin poisoning, right?"

Ducky nodded."Partly, Samantha Morgan had been indeed poisoned but I have finished the autopsy on Mr. Curiton just yesterday and there had been no traces of ricin in his blood. He had been strangled and stabbed repeatedly post mortem."

"But both of them were disposed of in the harbor," Gibbs caught on what Tony was trying to tell them, feeling proud of the younger man," but not Mrs. Curiton. You have any idea why?"

Tony seemed to think for a moment, biting his lip in concentration before replying, "I think he wasn't planning on murdering her. She could have surprised him when he was disposing of the bodies…or he could have come back to the house after getting rid of her husband and his daughter and then decided he'd kill her too. "

"I don't think she was at home when the murders took place, "Gibbs added, leaning against the table and looking at the body. "We'll have to find out where she was and why. It was in the middle of the night, the murderer could have lured her out so he could kill her husband and his daughter. It would make sense."

Ducky watched in fascination as the two younger men traded ideas and thoughts, amazed at how in tune they were after only a couple of days of knowing each other. Although, when he thought about it more thoroughly, it wasn't that surprising; they were after all, quite similar in many aspects.

"I have sent Mrs. Curiton's blood sample to Abby, but I doubt she'll find anything. I've found nothing during the autopsy that would suggest she had been poisoned as well."Ducky finished his report on the autopsy and glanced at Tony and Gibbs. Both were standing hunched over the body, leaning against the metal table with a look of concentration on their faces. Ducky fought the urge to grin at the picture in front of him. They had no idea how alike they were.

"Let's go and see what Abby has for us," Gibbs announced and looked at the young detective across from him. Tony nodded his head, agreeing with the plan and both men left with a simultaneous, 'see ya later.'

Ducky was left staring at their retreating backs, his grin growing larger. Similar indeed.

TBC

A/N: Sorryyyyy! I am so sorry this chapter took so long…but I've had some big exams at uni and when I finally finished those, this chapter was so not cooperating with me. It was like pulling teeth LOL

Not to mention it came out totally different that I wanted…hope it's not too bad!

Grrr, it's 3:34 am, my eyes can barely see…please be gentle with me :D Off to bed now…

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, favorites and alerts! Each and every single one means the world to me! Thank you!

Please review and tell me what you've liked or hated, what you'd like to see next or what you'd hate to happen next :-) I am open to suggestions…

Sending you lots and lots of hugs!

-Andy


	15. Smurfs

Chapter 15

Tony was nervous, Gibbs could tell. Trailing slightly behind him and refusing to meet his gaze, the usually talkative younger man was silent since the moment they stepped out of autopsy. Gibbs wanted to ask the younger man what his problem was, but considering DiNozzo's earlier reluctance to even admit he was in pain, he had a feeling it would be pointless to press him for information this time. Not to mention they still had a case to solve, there was enough time for deep talks afterwards. Gibbs almost snorted at the thought of Tony and him having a profound conversation about feelings. Might as well buy cookies and drink it down with green tea. Not.

Entering Abby's provisory lab, Tony trailing behind him like a lost puppy, the NCIS agent expected to see his forensic scientist bustling about the room in her typical bouncy way and getting them some leads, not the silence that greeted him instead.

"Abby?" Gibbs looked around the lab with sharp eyes, noticing the empty Caff-Pow cups on the table and Bert the Hippo sitting next to them. But no Abby.

"Bossman! Tony!"

Both men turned around just in time to see the forensic scientist waltz into the room with a wide grin on her pale face. She immediately drew Tony into one of her bear hugs, and to Gibbs' surprise, Tony didn't even flinch at her touch like he usually did. In fact, the younger man seemed to enjoy the contact and rested his forehead on Abby's shoulder, making the young woman beam with satisfaction.

"Missed you, Abby,""Tony mumbled into her shirt and Gibbs could swear he saw tears gather up in DiNozzo's green eyes. What the…

"Aww baby, I missed you too," Abby replied, stroking the dark head and sending a questioning glance at the lead agent, sensing there was something 'hinky' about Tony's behavior.

Gibbs sighed, not really knowing what to reply to her silent question. What was wrong with DiNozzo? The Baltimore cop had been on edge since morning and the episode in autopsy only fueled the NCIS agent's concern, which in turn made him angry. He didn't handle concern well.

"DiNozzo!" he barked, hoping his voice would get Tony back on track, make him behave like he normally did. Cocky, self-confident and witty was what he learned to associate with the younger man, definitely not meek, silent and insecure.

Tony drew away from the hug as soon as he heard his name being called and looked at Gibbs with glazed green eyes, mouth slightly opened as if in wonder. The pills really did a number on Tony; he was high as a kite.

"Yea, boss," Tony replied absentmindedly, not even realizing he had called Gibbs boss by mistake, as he dazedly observed the grey hippo on the table."That a…hippo?"

Gibbs was momentarily surprised at how natural it sounded to have Tony call him boss; as if it had always been like that, as if the younger man had always been a part of his team and not only for the last couple of days. It was almost frightening, how easily he had learned to trust the younger man, despite not knowing all that much about him and his past. Gibbs had always considered himself a good judge of character and looking at Tony, standing there in the middle of the lab with his usual guard down, he was positive his gut had been right to trust him.

There was something heartbreakingly childlike in the way the young detective kept staring at the stuffed toy with something akin to awe on his face and although many would swear otherwise, he did have a heart. And currently, DiNozzo was tugging at each and every heartstring he had. Not that he'd ever admit it aloud.

"Yeah, that's Bert and he farts," he responded, not sure why he added the last part about farting, but he knew it had been a bad idea the moment Tony's eyes widened in wonder and a mischevious glint appeared in them. Before he even had the chance to bang his head against the wall for telling this piece of information to the young cop, Tony was already holding the stuffed animal in both hands and gazing at it in confusion. His bewilderment didn't last long and he soon found out how to squeeze the toy so it would let out that annoying farting noise. Could it get even more disturbing than a farting stuffed animal?

Tony chose exactly that moment to giggle and the corners of Gibbs' mouth turned upwards involuntarily. Maybe it hadn't been such a bright idea to let him take those painkillers but it sure as hell was amusing to watch.

"Did you hear that Gibbbbbbs? That was sooooo cool!" the younger man exclaimed, his eyes shining with glee.

"You're really loopy, aren't ya, DiNozzo?"

Tony gave him a dreamy smile, the grey hippo still cradled in his arms."Ma-a-a-aybe," he drawled before his face took on a confused expression as he squinted at the older man."Gibbs…you have four eyes."

He couldn't help but chuckle at the amazement in Tony's voice and at the way he almost jumped out of his skin when Abby appeared next to him and linked her arm with his. "That's Gibbs, Tony; he probably has a couple of eyes hidden in the back of his head as well. You know, to see if anything hinky was going on. "

"Abby!" Gibbs growled, glaring at both of them." If you two are done with doing an inventory of my body parts, I'd like to get back to work. "

"Take a chill pill, bossman," Abby let go of Tony's hand and walked to one of the machines in the lab."The evidence won't run away. Besides, I don't have that much to tell you. "

Gibbs frowned, running a hand through his salt and pepper hair in frustration."You gonna tell me or should I guess, Abs?"

"But Gibbs!" Abby pouted as she put both hands on her hips."Aren't you forgetting something?"

The former marine sighed, knowing full well what Abby was expecting. But he hadn't had the time to go Caff-Pow hunting before coming to see his favorite lab rat. Despite popular belief, he wasn't all-mighty and between talking to Tony's bastard of a boss and Tony's stubbornness, there was just no time for anything else. Not even for his coffee, for heaven's sake.

"Sorry Abs," Gibbs apologized, tugging gently at one black pigtail, "no Caf-Pow this time."

"How is that possible? You always bring me-"

"Yeah, I know," he cut in, motioning towards Tony with a barely there nod of his head. "I've had other things to take care of this morning."

Abby observed her new friend with a frown on her face; the Baltimore detective's face looked pale and haggard, black and blue bruises forming morbid patterns on his chalk white skin. This was not a look she had come to associate with Tony DiNozzo. And in some ways, he looked worse than when she found him bleeding on his bathroom floor the day before.

'_Is he ok?' _Abby signed as she turned her attention back to the lead agent. Noticing her concern was mirrored in his blue eyes was oddly comforting. Gibbs wouldn't let anything happen to Tony. He was Gibbs, after all. _'I mean, I see that he's a bit loopy. Ok, he must be a lot loopy, since he's hugging Bert like that, but it could be worse, you know. He could be dancing and singing to YMCA and then he could-'_

She was cut off when Gibbs grabbed both her hands in his, effectively stopping her signing monologue. Seeing that he caught her attention, the older man signed back, _'I don't really know if he's ok, Abs. I've had Ducky look at him before coming to see you and he took some painkillers. That's why he's so loopy now. He also freaked out when seeing the body in autopsy, making up some piss poor excuse that about not liking the sight of blood, which is a load of crap if you ask me.'_

'_But he'll be ok, right? I really want him to be alright, Gibbs.' _

They both shared a look turning their attention back to Tony, who was sitting on one of the tables in the room with Bert the hippo sitting in his lap, totally oblivious to their scrutiny.

'He'll be ok, Abs. I'll make sure of that."

Abby nodded, marginally calmer than a minute before, and twirled around the face one of the screens in the lab.

"Ok, so like I've said, I don't have very much to tell you, bossman." Handing Gibbs a sheet of paper, she turned around and pointed to the monitor which now showed the picture of Diane Curiton, their victim.

"The blood you found in the car belonged to Diane Curiton. As did the fingerprints on the gun. There were no other fingerprints I could identify. I bet the murderer wiped the gun clean before using it and if I should guess, I bet he used gloves afterwards. I kind of hoped he'd leave some kind of fibers from the gloves, but no such luck. This guy's good and if I didn't know better, I'd believe it was a suicide."

"Good is a relative term. Luckily for us, he forgot that you can't kill yourself with both hands on the steering wheel." He wanted to put his hand through a wall at that, because how screwed up was it that they considered it a stroke of luck that the murderer forgot to put the gun in the victim's hand?

"That's really stupid of him," Tony commented from behind them, looking at the grey stuffed animal in his arms "right, Bert? I mean, the bad guy takes so much care with everything else and then gets sloppy when finishing up. That's like from a bad soap opera. What do you think, Bert?"

There was a silence during which Tony kept nodding at the hippo as if the toy was telling him something very important. "You're right Bert! Maybe he really was interrupted during…you know, the killing part. By something or someone…" He shuddered at the end before giving the hippo a tight hug. "You're a great investigator, detective Bert. "

"Abs, could you check if someone reported anything unusual in the vicinity of the crime scene? Our crime scene doesn't have to be the original one. The gun didn't have a silencer; someone might have heard the shot and interrupted our murderer causing him to become sloppy." Gibbs looked back at the young man with pride in his eyes. Even in his drug-induced haze…and talking to a stuffed hippo, Tony couldn't hide the special something that made him such a great investigator. It made him proud, as unexplainable as it sounded even to his own ears. He wasn't Tony's father, or boss for that matter, but at the moment it didn't seem all that important.

"Good job, DiNozzo," Gibbs praised and got a heartwarming smile in return.

"No problem Gibbsman! You know what this reminds me of? Batman and Robin!" Tony jumped off the table, an excited gleam in his eyes."Well, except for the tight-fitting body suit! What do you say?"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow and crossed both arms over his chest."What? You want me to dress up like a bat?" He snorted." The painkillers must have done more damage than I thought."

"I don't know, Gibbs. I think you'd look like a major badass in it!" Abby grinned from her spot next to the computer."Not to mention how easy you'd get the bad guys to spill their guts in interrogation."

"Dressed like that, they'd probably die of laughter before admitting anything," Gibbs replied drily, sending a warning glare at both DiNozzo and Abby, effectively shutting them up. "Now, let's get back to the case."

"Your wish is my command, your batness."

There was a sound oddly reminiscent of a giggle from behind him, but Gibbs refused to acknowledge it for the time being. But if he heard one more Batman comment, he'd personally erase the word from both Abby's and Tony's vocabulary.

"The gun belongs to Mister Walter Curiton; it's officially registered on his name." The forensic scientist looked disappointed for a moment before continuing,"I've also tried identifying the fingerprints in the car but there's too many of them and it's bound to take a long time before I come up with any names. And let's not forget that they don't even have to be in our system."

Gibbs put his arm around the black haired Goth, squeezing her shoulders lightly. Abby always took it hard when her beloved forensics couldn't help them any further in a case. "What about evidence from the Curitons' house?"

"Not much to tell either," Abby replied with a pout."The blood you found in the living room belongs to Walter Curiton. As does the blood from the footprint found in the garden. I've looked at the footprint, hoping there was something distinguishing about it, but no such luck. It's your average size 12 shoe."

"So the murderer is probably a man," Gibbs deduced. Not that it helped them all that much.

"Or a transsexual…or one seriously big-footed woman." At Gibbs' disbelieving look she added,"Hey, haven't you heard about Paris Hilton? Her foot is like size-"

"Abby," Gibbs cut her off, "I really don't need to know that right now."

"Sorry, bossman," Abby apologized, still glaring at the computer screen in anger," it's just…that's one sneaky bastard you're dealing with and my babies are powerless to help at the moment. It makes me so mad!"

Gibbs sighed, understanding Abby's frustration as it mirrored his own at the moment. He wasn't one to sit on his ass while the murderer of three people was still out there and enjoying his life as if he hadn't killed a whole family. As if he hadn't taken a daughter from her parents. He had hoped that Abby's forensic would give them a lead; a clue that would at least point them in the right direction, but since it didn't, they'd have to do it the old fashioned kind of way, without the wonders of modern technology.

"Not your fault, Abs." Drawing the young woman closer he dropped a kiss on the side of her head. "Like you've said, he's one sneaky bastard."

And Gibbs swore he'd get him, whatever it took.

"But you're sneakier, right, Gibbs?" Abby nestled closer to him, her head on his shoulder. "You'll get the bad guy in the end, you always do."

The former marine didn't know how to respond to that. It wasn't even a question, but a stated fact. There weren't many people out there, who trusted him so implicitly like Abby and he wasn't about to let her down and lose that trust. Not now, not ever.

"Are you having some kind of a secret club meeting?" Tony appeared next to the young forensic scientist so suddenly that he startled both her and Gibbs. Still sporting a loopy grin, the young Baltimore detective looked more like a kid in a candy story than a skilled investigator in the middle of a murder case. "I wanna join! Pretty pleaaaase? I never was in a club before! Nobody ever wanted me…" His face grew glum for a moment, before once again taking on his happy expression that seemed to have become his default one in this drugged state. "I could give us a name! Like…umm the Bat Bunch? Super Awesome Detectives? The Smurfs?"

"The Smurfs?" Abby asked, disentangling herself from Gibbs' arms and taking Tony's hand in her smaller one."Why the Smurfs? Not that I'm complaining! I mean, I loved their hats and for some reasons, the male Smurfs always walked around shirtless in all their blue-chested glory. Plus, you gotta love men in tights."

Tony looked horrified at the prospect."But Abbyyyyyy! That's not what I had in mind; I so didn't need to hear that part about their tights." He covered his eyes with his hands as if it would protect him from the mental images."That's just g-r-o-s-s Abs-s-s, hey, that almost rhymed!"

Abby snickered at his reaction, loving this carefree, more childlike version of her friend. This Tony didn't have shadows lurking in his beautiful green eyes, he laughed without a worry in the world, he welcomed her touch and loved to cuddle and who was she to refuse him? Wrapping her arms around his waist, she gave him a teasing smile. "As if you didn't watch the show because of Smurfette."

"Nah," he responded, grinning." I watched it for the intro song. It was too cute."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow in amusement. He knew DiNozzo wasn't his usual self due to the pain meds, but hearing the younger man gush about some children's song and saying how cute it was…well, it was entertaining for the lack of a better word. And when Tony opened his mouth to sing said song, Gibbs had to stifle the laugh that threatened to break free.

"_La la la-la la la,_

_Sing a happy song. _

_La la la-la la la,_

_Smurf your whole day long."_

Abby didn't have such reservations and laughed at her friend's silliness, leaning her head against his shoulder. She looked at Gibbs and signed,"_He is so much fun like this, can we-"_

"_No, Abby, we can't kidnap him and keep him drugged at NCIS,"_ he signed back and smiled indulgently at the pout he got in return.

"_Damn, and here I thought I'd finally get to use my new fluffy handcuffs."_

He snorted_."Too much information, Abs."_

She winked at him, before turning back to Tony, who was still singing the theme song with a silly grin on his face, green eyes slightly unfocused but twinkling and full of life_. _He liked Tony like this, happy like a kid on Christmas morning.

"_So smurf yourself a grin!"_

"I think I get the picture, Jokey Smurf," Abby joked, putting a finger to Tony's mouth, preventing him from singing further. Not that he had a bad voice, quite the opposite, but the Smurfs theme song wasn't something she wanted to have on repeat…all day long.

"Gotcha, Sassette Smurfling." Tony gave her a mock salute, his hand a bit too wobbly and he nearly poked out his eye in the process.

"You done fooling around, DiNozzo?"Gibbs asked, the tone of his voice lighter than usually, regret coloring his voice. He liked listening to Tony and Abby tease each other, but the case had to come first. Blue trolls in tights could wait for the moment. "We need to go and interview the co-workers of our victims; maybe they'll be able to give us some clue to who is responsible for the murders."

"Aye, aye, Papa Smurf! Should I go and gas the smurfmobile?" Tony frowned, putting his hands on his hips."That sounds weird…batmobile sounds so much better."

"I don't care how it sounds, DiNozzo, just go and wait for me by the car. No wandering around the building, just straight to the car, got it?"

Tony gave him an eager nod, before sprinting towards the exit, nearly slamming into the wall in his haste to get to the 'batmobile' as he had named the NCIS issued car. Gibbs shook his head in amusement; Tony DiNozzo certainly was one of a kind and even though he hardly understood it himself, Tony wormed his way into Gibbs' as well as Ducky's and Abby's life so thoroughly, he couldn't even remember a time when the younger man wasn't a part of it.

"Awww that was so sweet, Gibbs! What an awesome papa bear moment, I am so proud of you!" Abby exclaimed, jumping up and down with a smile the size of Atlantic Ocean on her face.

"What are talking about, Abs?" He knew he cared about the kid, but he didn't think he was so obvious, was he?

"Come on, bossman, 'no wandering around the building'? 'Just straight to the car'? You are so cute when you go all protective grizzly like that!"

He snorted at being called cute; it was like saying a tiger was a cuddly kitty cat. "Well, it beats the alternative."

Abby raised both eyebrows."Which is?"

"Having him whine to me about how he'd embarrassed himself running around the building with a stuffed hippo in his arms."

* * *

Looking at Tony's sleeping face, Gibbs sighed in relief, thankful that the younger man wasn't awake anymore to literally drive him crazy. He had met a lot of talkative people in his life, Ducky and Abby being prime examples of the fact, but nobody came even close to a high DiNozzo. It was like listening to a radio…without the music, commercials and coherence. Tony had jumped from one topic to the other with lightning speed, slurring the words and generally making it impossible to understand for the older man. He'd talked about John Travolta starring in some movie involving…rotten tomatoes, before asking why the sky was blue. It had been tiring to listen to. They just had to head out in the middle of rush hour.

Gibbs' plan to go straight to the restaurant where Samantha Morgan had worked and question her co-workers had to wait. He needed coffee and something to eat for Tony. Ducky would kill him if he didn't feed the kid and with some luck, the food would get rid of the loopiness for him. Hopefully.

Glancing at Tony once again, Gibbs couldn't help but reach out and ruffle the younger man's brown hair with a fond smile.

"What am I going to do with you, DiNozzo?"

In sleep, Tony looked somehow younger and he didn't care one bit how cliché that sounded, because it was true. Curled into a tight ball on his side, with hair sticking in all directions and face paler than Abby's, DiNozzo looked like a kid playing dress-up with his father's suits.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts. Tony wasn't a kid anymore, he was a seasoned homicide detective and it was important he'd remember that, especially during this case. He couldn't keep worrying about Tony like that; he had to believe the young detective was capable of taking care of himself. Mollycoddling wasn't something he did and he had a feeling Tony wouldn't appreciate it.

He was startled from his thoughts by a distressed whimper coming from the younger man. He quickly stopped the car on the side of the road, thinking Tony may be in pain because of his cracked ribs but when he looked at the DiNozzo, he was surprised to find him in the middle of a bad nightmare. At least that was how it looked to Gibbs from where he was sitting. He was whimpering and writhing in his seat, face ashen with sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Tony? Hey, come on, wake up! DiNozzo!"

Tony didn't wake up, his whimpers getting louder and more distressed, panicking. He knew it wasn't the wisest idea to touch the younger man at the moment, but he refused to watch the young detective suffer like this. Touching Tony's shoulder carefully, Gibbs gently shook the younger man.

"DiNozzo!"

Tony woke up with a start; terrified green eyes flying open and looking around frantically. He was taking in deep gulps of air and shivering slightly from the aftermath of the nightmare.

Glazed green eyes met blue ones and before Gibbs could even react to what was happening, the younger man had grabbed his arm, hugging it close to his chest and rested his head on the ex marine's shoulder as the tears fell.

"Don't hate me. P-please, d-don't hate me," he gasped out.

"Tony?" Gibbs asked and put his hand around the young detective, drawing the shaking figure closer."I don't hate you. I don't. Why should I?"

"B-because I killed her." There was a short moment of silence as the NCIS agent waited for Tony to answer, but when he finally did, it wasn't something Gibbs had expected. Not at all.

"Because I killed A-abby."

TBC

* * *

Okay…just want to say I am very, very sorry that it took me so long to update!!!!Sorry! Life was very hectic, with school starting, my job, losing my cell phone, celebrating my birthday etc. I promise I'll try to update once a week or once every 2 weeks from now on!

I also want to give a special thank you to AgentDiNozzo13 who gave me some tips for writing a loopy Tony :-) Thank you, my dear! It helped a lot!

AZ Girl for being awesome and very supportive!:)

Secretchild for supplying me with NCIS !;)3

Ncismom for the moral support 3

And Crying Cowgirl, my big sis, for making my days so much brighter!:)

And thank you to everybody for reading this story, reviewing and all the alerts and favorites I am getting. I love you guys!

If I've made any stupid mistakes, don't hesitate to let me know, it's late and I'm tired and it's possible I've overlooked some.

Love,

Andy


	16. Nightmare

Chapter 16

_He was looking into the lifeless green eyes of his mother, staring blankly at the blue sky above. She looked pretty, Tony observed, hovering above her floating body. Dressed in a white summer dress, her silky hair creating a dark curtain around her pale face, motionless limbs rocking slightly every time a breeze hit the calm surface of the water in the swimming pool, she looked more like a life-sized doll than a living person; than his mother._

"_Mom?" He whispered, hoping she'd stop staring at something he couldn't see, couldn't understand, and just smile at him with that comforting smile of hers. At the moment he wasn't Anthony DiNozzo Jr., Baltimore homicide detective, he was Tony, son of Isabella DiNozzo. A kid whose mother just drowned in the swimming pool after mixing pills with alcohol, slipping on the wet floor and hitting her head while going down. "Wake up, mom! Please."_

_Noticing his pleas had an echo, he quickly turned around and found himself standing in front of an 8 year old version of himself. He was screaming with tears running down his red face soaking the white sailor suit his mom had insisted he put on._

"_Mom! Please, please, wake up!" It was like a broken record and he wished it'd stop with all the pleading, begging and bargaining. God, stop! It hurt to listen to the gut wrenching wails. He felt like he was the one screaming. Although, in some way he was._

"_Stop! Fucking STOP!" The crying stopped but he continued, not caring one bit of his voice echoed in the silence, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "She is dead. Dead…"_

_The younger Tony glared at him with all the hatred an eight year old boy could muster. "Yeah, she is. And you killed her!"_

_Whirling around, Tony stared at previously lifeless form of his mother that suddenly sprang to life and looked him in the eyes. Green meeting green. _

_She was saying something, but Tony couldn't hear what. Her mouth was forming words that refused to be voiced.____He wanted to hear her; to hear the voice he had last heard a lifetime ago. A voice he didn't remember anymore. The thought of not being able to remember what his mother sounded like anymore brought a lump to his throat, making it hard to swallow. She used to sing to him before bed each night, dammit! _

"_Mom…please…"_

"_You could have saved her!" A loud, hard voice boomed and Tony whipped around only to come face to face with his father, red faced with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. _

"_Dad," he whispered, "I am sorry." The words came easily, accompanied by countless of memories where he had done the same. The result had been always the same as well. _

_The bottle didn't surprise him. He watched it fly towards him in slow motion but he didn't move out of the away; he never ducked. Closing his eyes, he waited for the inevitable pain to come. It never did. Cautiously opening his eyes, Tony blinked in surprise when instead of his father's angry eyes, he was looking into Gibbs' piercing blue ones._

"_Gibbs?" he croaked, his heart beating wildly in his chest. _

"_You killed her," Gibbs growled and Tony took a step back, shocked at the intense hate in the older man's voice. "She trusted you. I trusted you and you killed her!"_

_His hands shaking, Tony took a deep breath and glanced at his mother's still form, only to gasp loudly when he realized it wasn't his mom's body floating on the water's surface anymore. Suddenly he was running; he needed to save her, he couldn't let her die like his mother. He knew how to swim this time._

_Diving into the water, he quickly swam to the motionless figure and took one pale hand in his. _

"_Wake up, please, wake up!" he pleaded, his eyes filling with tears that refused to fall._

"_She can't wake up." Gibbs appeared next to him. "She's dead. All because of you. Because you couldn't save her. Because you're dangerous and get people killed. Do you hear me, DiNozzo?"_

"_No," Tony choked," I didn't…I…no…" Gently placing two shaking fingers on the side of her neck, he desperately tried to feel for a pulse, a sign of life. He found none. _

_Her green eyes were staring at him, unblinking and sightless, her lips slightly parted in a silent scream. A strand of black hair tickled his forearm and he drew away as if it burned. "No."_

"_Why?" Gibbs looked at him, the anger from before replaced by so much heartbreak, it took Tony's breath away. The tears were running down his cheeks in rivers as he watched Gibbs, the man he had come to respect in the last couple of days, draw his sig and point it at him._

"_You've disappointed me." The words cut straight through his heart, bringing back painful memories he had tried to hard to forget._

"_You've killed Abby, Tony."_

_Hearing Gibbs say her name, hearing Gibbs say _his_ name was too much for him. His world shattered and he didn't care one bit of the older man was seconds away from putting a hole in his forehead._

_He could hear someone calling his name but he ignored it, opting instead for closing his eyes and waiting for the inevitable. He didn't deserve anything else. _

"DiNozzo!"

And Tony woke up with a start.

* * *

It took Tony a while to realize where he was; where was up and where was down. The first couple of seconds he didn't know anything except the overwhelming urge to cry and be forgiven, to be comforted. He saw Gibbs and it all came crashing down on him.

It wasn't until a while later, clutching at Gibbs as if the man was his lifeline, did Tony realize what he was doing. He was hugging Gibbs! He was fucking crying on his shoulder and babbling nonsense and being so damn ridiculous, that the older man had to be disgusted by him.

Flushing a deep red, Tony slowly let go of Gibbs' arm, and leaned back against his seat. Refusing to meet the ex marine's gaze, he resorted to staring out of the window instead. He didn't want to see the disappointment in the other man's face; it was too familiar for his comfort.

"Sorry," Tony mumbled, running a shaking hand through his brown hair. "It's…I-I mean..th-"

"Stop while you're at it, DiNozzo. If what comes next of your mouth is an apology, I'll slap you so hard you won't even know your own name anymore. I don't want to hear it."

Tony blinked. "You know, if this is what you call comforting, I really don't want to see you angry."

Gibbs gave a humorless chuckle. "DiNozzo, you don't want comforting, even I can see so.

What you need is to tell me what the nightmare was about."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Tony stubbornly refused to meet his gaze. "Oh, really? How did you figure that out?"

"Because I know you, DiNozzo."

This time it was Tony's turn to laugh. "Really? Really, Gibbs? You actually think you know me?" He lowered his voice and whispered. "How can you know me, if I hardly know myself?"

There was a moment of silence as Gibbs looked straight ahead, seemingly deep in thought and Tony, thinking he had lost every ounce of respect the older man may had held for him, was staring at his hands in a deep concentration. He couldn't quite hide the anguish in his green eyes and he knew Gibbs saw it. Could the situation get even worse?

"I do know you, Tony." Gibbs looked as if he wanted to say something more before he changed his mind and shook his head. "I just do."

Tony glared at the older man. "This is not how it works, Gibbs. You can't just order me to do something, without giving me a good reason, and expect me to listen to you like some good little lapdog. I've been doing that for far too long now." His eyes widened as he realized he had once again revealed a bit more about himself than he had wanted to.

"I'm not asking you to be my lapdog, DiNozzo. " He paused for a moment, his blue eye meeting Tony's green ones with an intensity that surprised the younger man. It was as if Gibbs was offering him a glance into his very soul. "I'm asking you to trust me."

Without actually thinking about it, he replied, "I do trust you." The realization that he actually really meant it took his breath away. What was it about the ex marine that he had been able to win his trust so effortlessly? What was it about Gibbs that broke through all his hard built defenses and left him feeling like a little kid again, begging for attention and approval? It was pathetic and he hadn't felt as vulnerable in years.

Gibbs just nodded and leaned back against his seat and looked out of the window, giving Tony time to gather his composure. "I can't force you to talk, Tony, but I am here if yo-"

"I want to talk. I want to tell you…I-I need to tell you," he cut in, voice strained. "Just not sure you'll like what I have to tell you. If you don't, I'll understand if you'll want me off the investigation. Hell, I'll be out of your sight faster than you can say-"

"Stop." Gibbs gave him a stern look.

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'faster than you can say disaster', but whatever-"

"DiNozzo," the former marine growled as he whirled around to face the younger man. He had wanted to make things easier for Tony by not watching him while he recounted his nightmare, knowing the younger man wouldn't appreciate being exposed like that for the world, for him, to see. But enough was enough. "I'm listening."

Tony took a deep breath to calm down and looked at Gibbs hesitantly. After a silent moment spent staring at each other, the Baltimore detective sunk deeper into his seat and shook his head in something akin to amusement.

"I just can't keep anything from you, can I?"

"Nope," Gibbs responded with a smile of his own. "And you better not try it."

"The dream…the nightmare was about my mom," Tony began uncertainly, toying with the hem of his shirt. "About when she died."

Tony shivered, remembering the pallor of his mother's skin as she floated on the water with her green eyes wide open but not seeing anymore. He forced himself to continue, knowing he owed Gibbs to at least finish what he had started.

"My mom…my mom wasn't like your usual mom. She loved to laugh, have a good time and go to parties and even though she didn't have that much time for me and even though she dressed me in those horrible sailor suits….she always made me feel important and loved, you know?"

Gibbs remained silent, not sure if he understood a mother that didn't have time for her son but had time for going to parties, but he decided not to voice his thoughts, afraid Tony would change his mind and refuse to tell him more.

"Every time she came home from a business trip with my father, she'd hug me and bring me the best presents money could buy." Tony smiled, remembering the way she had looked at him with warmth in her eyes, they way she had softly told him she had missed him and the way her expensive French perfume had reminded him of flowers in spring, of comfort and most importantly of safety and home.

Gibbs gave him a sad smile, seeing what Tony would never acknowledge. A mother who had other priorities in life than entertaining her young son at home; a mother who felt guilty and thought buying gifts and the occasional hug would make it feel better and a son, who didn't know any better and thought it was alright.

Tony took a deep breath, bracing himself for what was yet to come. "She drank that day," he started, his voice just slightly above a whisper." She did that sometimes, when she wanted to relax and unwind after the business trips with my dad."

He looked at Gibbs, as if making sure the older man was listening, before continuing. "We had this giant pool, right behind the house and mom decided it would be nice to spend some quality time together so she could teach me how to swim and all that. " Tony chuckled with a dark amusement. "I was 8 fucking years old and still couldn't swim. I was terrified of water. How stupid is that?"

Gibbs opened his mouth to reply but Tony cut him off." So I refused. What a chicken, huh? Mom was disappointed, I could tell by the frown on her face and the way she stood, holding a glass of martini in her hand. She had this angry stance, you know. Then she probably decided I was hopeless and wanted to…well, I don't remember anymore what she wanted to do but she slipped on the edge of the pool and hit her head going down. She drowned. And I just stood there, like a gaping fish and did nothing but scream for help. Pretty pathetic, right?"

Tony intentionally left out the part about how he had tried to pull his mother out of the water but had only succeeded in pushing her further away. He also didn't say how he had, in a desperate attempt to save her, jumped into the water and splashed around, trying not to drown and save his mom at the same time, until the gardener had pulled him out, kicking and screaming.

"What happened then?" Gibbs' quiet question cut through the painful memories like a sharp knife, bringing Tony back to the present. He blinked in confusion at first, before he realized that Gibbs had asked him a question.

He shrugged. "Well, mom died, there was a funeral and life was never the same again."

"What about your father? How did he take it?" Gibbs asked, studying the younger man next to him and he didn't miss the sharp intake of breath. There was more to this story than Tony had revealed so far.

"He was angry."

The former marine cocked his head to the side, observing the young detective, who was fidgeting in his seat.

A dark suspicion started forming in his mind but he refused to believe that a father would be as callous as to do that to his own child.

"Who was he angry at, Tony?"

Tony sat quietly for a while and turned his head towards the window, and just as Gibbs wanted to repeat his question, the younger man responded.

"Me. He was angry at me for not knowing how to swim, for not saving her and for letting her near the pool in the first place. Said it should have been me and that I was dangerous to the people I cared for. That I'd get them all killed one day."

Gibbs saw a single tear roll down Tony's cheek, feeling his anger grow with each passing second. Now he also understood why the younger man had said he had killed Abby. It seemed his father's cruel words had left a lasting impression on the young boy that he still carried with him, thinking he would get the people he cared for killed. He could only imagine what else was in the nightmare that the younger man had conveniently left out. How horrible it must had been. And he had his own father to thank for that. That good for nothing son of a-

"Gibbs, don't. Please," Tony interrupted his trail of positively murderous thoughts. "It's not as if he meant it. He was drunk at the time. And I was being a brat, following him around and wanting his attention 24 hours a day. Of course he'd flipped out. I don't blame him."

"But I damn well do!" Gibbs growled, hitting the steering will in frustration, making Tony jump in surprise and look at him. "There's no excuse for what he had said, DiNozzo, you hear me? None."

"But he was grievi-"

"That's no excuse and you better remember that. You were grieving too, your mother just died in front of your very own eyes; you shouldn't even have had to ask for his attention, it was your right!"

Tony looked dubious, not entirely sure he believed the other man. "If you say so."

Gibbs shook his head." No, damn it, Tony. I mean it. You've said you trust me, so why can't you now? Would I really lie to you?"

Tony met his eyes, uncertainty written all over his pale face. "You haven't so far."

Gibbs nodded his head, ignoring the irrational flash of pain and disappointment Tony's answer had caused. It wasn't as if they had known each other all that long and expecting the younger man to just trust him implicitly right away was unreasonable.

"I won't." he wowed, "I mean everything I say. And when I say your mother's death wasn't your fault and your father was a bastard you better believe it or else I'll head slap you so hard, even Google won't be able to find you, got it?"

As choked up as he felt, Tony couldn't ignore the comment and looked at his temporary boss with a grin. "Didn't think you even knew what Google was."

"I don't. I've just heard Abby mention it a couple of times."

Tony bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud. "Figures."

Despite the Gibbs' glower, Tony felt lighter than he had in years. In his own special way, the older man had given him what he had wished for since he was eight. Someone to tell him it was not his fault and that he had done nothing to deserve his father's anger.

"You know, for a bastard you are a pretty nice guy." Tony beamed at the glare the NCIS special agent sent him. "Well, once you ignore those glares and the bad temper that is."

Gibbs leaned forward with a smirk on his face and the young detective would have taken a step backwards if he wasn't sitting inside of a car. "You tell this to anyone and I'd have to kill you."

Tony tilted his head to the side and looked at the other man, a silent understanding passing between them. "But you'd rather not, right?"

Shaking his head, Gibbs laughed and impulsively ruffled his young partner's hair. "No, I'd rather not."

The beaming smile he got in return warmed the ex marine's heart. This was the first he had seen the Baltimore detective smile and mean it. Except for the 'being high on pain meds' smiles he threw around as if the world depended on them, of course. Which reminded him…

"After all, it's kind of hard to find people who are so amusing on painkillers as you are."

Tony paled almost immediately, his mind already running through all different scenarios of what could have happened while he was high from the meds. "So…um, did I say or do something embarrassing? "

"Depends on what you think is embarrassing," Gibbs replied, as he was fastening his seatbelt.

"Gibbs! Please, my pride is on the line over here!"

"Well, leave it hanging while you put your seatbelt on." The command in the sentence was quite obvious and Tony did as he was told, feeling decidedly childish for doing so. It felt nice.

"Seatbelt on, so would you please answer my question now?"

The special agent took his time answering and when he did, it wasn't anything that made sense for Tony.

"What do you think of The Smurfs theme song?"

The young Baltimore detective frowned at the question, feeling confused and not really sure he wanted to know what this was all about. "I can't even remember it."

Hearing Gibbs actually laugh out loud wasn't something Tony had expected to see. Ever. But it did happen, and it left him feeling more confused than ever before.

"Was it something I've said?"

Gibbs just shook his head and smiled at his bewildered expression. "More like something you've sang, Robin."

Hazy memories of singing and talking to stuffed hippos assaulted Tony's mind, making him groan and bury his face in his hands in embarrassment. He really wished he'd just kept his mouth shut…Damn.

TBC

Disclaimer: Don't own anything…not the characters and definitely not Google. Wish I did, though :P

Hey there guys!!! Before you all start cursing and throwing things at me, I do have an excuse for my very late update. Besides the usual issue of school, work and some personal stuff, some of my health problems decided it would be fun to worsen and complicate my life some more. Don't worry; it isn't anything serious. Just a bad case of migraines that make me nauseated a couple of times per week with none of your usual painkillers working. Fun, huh? I've tried writing several times, but it's just so hard when you're in pain and wanting to throw up. Plus it makes me feel tired…so, I am really sorry for letting you wait for so long, it wasn't my intention, at all. Hope you can all forgive me ;-)

Anyway, I want to thank everybody for all the wonderful reviews and alerts I'm getting. Believe me, they are like a ray of sunshine for me when I'm feeling down. I tried replying to everybody, but I think I may have missed a couple of you. Sorry…won't happen again;-) I do cherish you all the same:-)

About the chapter…was trying to write it as soon as possible, before the next migraine decided to strike…hope I didn't make much glaring mistakes. If I did, you're free to let me know and I'll correct it immediately. Hope you like it…it's a bit different than what I've planned, but oh well…

And last but not least, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to AZGirl...Hope it brightens your day!!! You're a lovely girl and a great person and I hope you'll only have reasons to smile from now on :-)

Oh, and Happy Easter!!!!! ;-) And while eating all the chocolate eggs, don't forget what the holiday really stands for :-)

Love,

Andy


End file.
